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THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON 


























































































































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ELEMENTS 




OF 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT 


LOCAL, STATE, AND VlATIONAL 


A BRIEF COURSE FOR UNGRADED, GRAMMAR, AND 
HIGH SCHOOLS 


ly 


WILLIAM A. MOWRY, Ph.D. 


Editor of “ Education” ; for Twenty Years the Senior Principal of 
THE English and Classical School, Providence, R.I.; and 
Author of “Studies in Civil Government” 




3L—^>--.31 


-A 





5 ^ 




j^j- 


SILVER, BURDETT & CO., PUBLISHERS 
New York BOSTON Chicago 

1892 




\ 




Copyright, 1890, 

By william A. MOWRY. 


Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston. 


Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston, 



PREFACE. 


One of the most gratifying sighs of the times is the 
increasing interest of late manifested in different parts 
of the country in the study of our Civil Government. 
This growing interest is seen in the multiplicity of 
books relating to this subject, its general discussion in 
the daily and weekly press and the monthly and quar¬ 
terly magazines, the formation of Societies for Promoting 
Good Citizenship, and especially in the great increase 
in the introduction of the study of Civil Government 
into the public and private schools, academies, and 
colleges in all parts of the country. It is doubtless 
true to-day that the study is carefully pursued in many 
high, grammar, and ungraded schools in every state in 
the Union. It should be, in every school in the country 
where there are pupils above thirteen years of age. 

Our public school system is maintained upon the 
principle that the safety of free institutions demands 
intelligence on the part of every citizen. If the property 
of the state is to be taxed to educate the children of the 
state, it surely follows of necessity that the principles, 
methods, powers, and duties of the government, and the 
relation of the parts to each other and to the whole. 


3 


4 


PREFACE. 


as well as the duties and privileges of the citizen, 
should be studied in these schools. 

We have many treatises upon the Constitution of 
the United States, and text-books of a higher grade for 
the study of Civil Government in high schools, acad¬ 
emies, and colleges, — books so extended and complete 
that a full year is required to master them ; but it is 
everywhere felt that ' a suitable book is very much 
needed for ungraded and grammar schools, and for high 
schools in the smaller towns and cities, where time 
cannot be found for an extended study of the subject. 
Moreover, it is found that many of the text-books are 
written for older and more mature pupils, thus being 
entirely above the reach of the younger and more im¬ 
mature minds in the schools just mentioned. 

It is the hope of the author that this book will be 
found well adapted for the purpose above indicated. It 
attempts to discuss, in a brief and elementary manner, 
the foundation principles and general facts of our gov¬ 
ernment, local, state, and national, in language easily 
understood by pupils from twelve to sixteen years of 
age, and at the same time without making the silly 
and futile attempt to degrade the dignity of the subject 
to the language and style of the primer, the first or the 
second reader. This subject can scarcely be studied to 
advantage by primary scholars, but it can be pursued 
with entire success by nearly all boys and girls who 
have studied arithmetic to percentage, and who can 
comprehend the good English of a fourth reader. 


PREFACE. 


5 


It is believed that the plan of this elementary treatise 
will commend itself to teachers everywhere. It is 
analytical and topical. It includes, — 

1. Town Governments. 

2. City Governments. 

3. County Governments. 

’ 4. State Governments. 

5. The National Government. 

It introduces the history of the early settlements and 
the colonies, the formation of the state and national 
governments, and the rapid and marvellous growth of 
the republic. 

It gives topical analyses for blackboard wcrk, and 
general outlines for reviews. 

This book is not designed to take the place of the 
author’s “ Studies in Civil Government,” but its purpose 
is to furnish a shorter course, which can be used in 
schools where younger pupils can spend from three to 
six months in the study of an elementary book, but 
would find the larger and more mature treatise too 
extensive and too difficult. 

The author takes this opportunity to express his 
grateful appreciation of the cordial reception and ex¬ 
tended introduction given to his former book, entitled 
“Studies in Civil Government,” which in two years has 
passed through four editions, and is now in extensive 
use in all sections of our common country. That book 
has just been thoroughly revised, and the necessary 


6 


PREFACE, 


changes made to adapt it to the present condition of 
our state and national governments. 

It may not be improper to add that these two books 
have not been made at the study table merely, but 
have grown out of twenty-five years of practical teach¬ 
ing, in which the author has had a class every year in 
this subject, and that not a few men now prominent in 
both public and business life have expressed the con¬ 
viction that this study has proved of greater interest 
and of more practical value to them than that of any 
other subject of their entire school curriculum. 

The author desires to express the hope that this 
brief treatise may serve to promote a higher apprecia¬ 
tion of, and a stronger love for, our free institutions and 
our liberal government “ of the people,” to the end that 
they may be perpetual. 

WILLIAM A. MOWRY. 


Dorchester, May i, 1890. 


CONTENTS. 


PART 1. 

LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS, 


Introductory 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Local Government 

CHAPTER 11. 

.17 

State Governments 

CHAPTER HI. 

.39 

CHAPTER IV. 


Colonial and Revolutionary History . . . .55 


7 



8 


CONTENTS. 


PART 11. 

THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

The Legislative Department. 75 

CHAPTER IL 

The Executive Department.101 

CHAPTER HI. 

The Judicial Department.137 

CHAPTER IV. 

Miscellaneous Provisions.145 

CHAPTER V. 

The Amendments to the Constitution . . -155 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Growth of our Country.163 

CHAPTER VH. 

Rules of Procedure for Deliberative Assemblies . 173 


ELEMENTS OE CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE^ 


GOVERNMENT. 


1. Local. 

Town, Township, or County. 

2. State. 

At first thirteen states, now forty-four. 

3. National. 

A true republican government of confederated states. 


PART FIRST 


LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

We live in a republic. Our country is called 
the United States of America. It extends from 
the Atlantic Ocean on the east, across the Valley 
of the Mississippi River, over the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains to the Pacific Ocean on the west. On the 
south is the Gulf of Mexico and the republic of 
Mexico; on the north is British America; then 
far to the northwest beyond British Columbia is 
Alaska, which also belongs to the United States. 
We have forty-four states, six territories, and the 
District of Columbia in which is the city of 
Washington, the capital of our country. 

All the people in this broad country are citizens 
under one government. This is called the Na- 


12 


INTRODUCTORY. 


tional Government. This National Government 
is divided into three parts, called the Legislative, 
the Executive, and the Judicial departments. 

The legislative department consists of a Con¬ 
gress of the United States, which includes two 
branches, the Senate and the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives. 

The executive power is invested in one man 
called the President of the United States. 

The judicial department comprises a series 
of Courts, including the United States District 
Courts, the United States Circuit Courts, and 
the Supreme Court of the United States. 

There are in this country subject to this one 
government more than sixty millions of people. 
This is the largest, most prosperous, and most 
powerful republic in the world. We ought to 
be thankful that we live under a good govern¬ 
ment and that our nation is large, and strong, 
and powerful. 

By and by we shall want to study the history 
of this government, when and how it began, and 
how it has grown to its present prosperous con¬ 
dition; but before taking up this subject, let us 
consider some other matters. We live not only 
in a republic but in a commonwealth. We are 
not only citizens of the United States, but we 
are citizens of the state of - 



INTRODUCTORY. 


3 


Every state has a government of its own. This 
government consists, like the National Govern¬ 
ment, of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial 
departments. The legislative department, usu¬ 
ally called the State Legislature, includes a 
Senate and a House of Representatives. The 
executive officer of the state is called the Gov¬ 
ernor. The courts of the state include local 
courts, — that is. Police Courts or Justice Courts, 
— County Courts, for the trial of civil and crim¬ 
inal cases, and the Supreme Court of the State. 

Again, we are not only citizens of the United 
States, and citizens of our state, but we are citi¬ 
zens of the town or city in which we live. So 
we have a third kind of government, a local gov¬ 
ernment, that is, the government of our town or 
city. It will be necessary, therefore, in our study 
of Civil Government, to keep constantly in mind 
that we are subject to our local government, to 
the laws of the state and to the law^^ of the 
United States. In all matters that relate to 
local affairs the town or city government has full 
power; in another set of subjects, relating to the 
general good of the people of the commonwealth, 
the state government has full control; but in 
everything which concerns the nation at large, 
the authority is vested in the National Govern¬ 
ment. 


14 


INTRODUCTOR K 


In Emerson’s beautiful little poem of the 
mountain and the squirrel, he makes the little 
rodent say to the mountain, “ If I cannot carry 
a forest on my back, neither can you crack a 
nut.” Each has its place and its duties and the 
other cannot interfere. 

The term “state sovereignty” is a misnomer. 
There is no such thing, and cannot be in a 
republic. Indeed there is — in the true sen§e of 
the word — no “sovereignty” in a republic, for 
there is no “ sovereign.” It is only by a figure 
of speech that we say “ the people are sovereign.” 
The township cannot interfere with the state or 
the nation, neither has the state or the nation 
the right to infringe upon the powers or preroga¬ 
tives of the town. 


• INTRODUCTORY, 


5 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. What is a republic? 

2. Describe the republic we live in. 

3. How many square miles does it contain? 

4. Citizens of towns, city, or county, of state and of nation. 

5. Legislative department — law-making. 

6. Executive department — enforcing. 

7. Judicial department — interpreting. 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


TOWN OFFICERS. 


1. Moderator. 

2. Town Clerk. 

3. Town Treasurer. 

4. Selectmen. 


5. Assessors. 

6. Constable. 

7. School Committee. 

8. Overseers of the Poor. 


9. Highway Surveyors, or Road Commissioners. 


CITY OFFICERS. 


1. Mayor. 

2. Aldermen. 

3. Councilmen. 

4. School Committee. 

5. Overseers of the Poor. 


6. City Clerk. 

7. City Treasurer. 

8. City Solicitor. 

9. City Auditor. 

10. City Marshal, and others. 


COUNTY OFFICERS. 


1. County Commissioners. 

2. County Treasurer. 

3. County Auditor. 

4. County Registrar. 


5. County Sheriff. 

6. Coroner. 

7. District Attorney. 

8. County Assessors. 


9. County School Commissioner, and others. 


16 





CHAPTER II. 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 

Section I. —The Town. 

The town is the local unit of government. 
The town government in this country originated 
in New England. In the new states of the west 
different circumstances have produced a differ¬ 
ent condition of local government. In the early 
settlements of New England a town included a 
little territory, generally with a central village 
and outlying farms scattered here and there. 
The people of this territory formed a compact 
settlement by itself and constituted a little de¬ 
mocracy, where all the people came together in 
town meeting and made laws for themselves, 
assessed taxes, ordered roads built, schools to be 
supported, and determined by a majority vote 
whatever seemed best for the well-being of the 
little settlement. 

These towns were grouped together in a col¬ 
ony, and the colonists were, at that time, subject 
to Great Britain. The first town meeting in 
America was held in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 


17 


8 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


in the year 1633. It was then established as an 
institution for that town. The citizens voted 
that the meeting should be held monthly, and 
that all matters relating to the welfare of the 
town were to be determined by a majority vote, 
the minority yielding their preferences and agree¬ 
ing to be governed by the majority. Other towns 
followed this example and established town meet¬ 
ings the next year, 1634. 

The establishment thus early in the history of 
our country of the town meeting has proved the 
source of much of our freedom at the present time 
in state and nation. In the newer settlements 
in the west covering greater areas of territory, 
generally without the nucleus of a village, the 
township, as the people call it there, is of less im¬ 
portance, while much of the local government is 
necessarily administered by counties. In some 
parts of the west and south the town has no ex¬ 
istence, the local government being by counties. 
In other sections there are both towns and coun¬ 
ties, but the county in many parts is of the greater 
importance. 

Section II. —Town Officers. 

A town meeting must be legally called. No¬ 
tices are posted in accordance with law, stating 
distinctly the business, article by article, which is 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


19 


to be transacted by the voters of the town in the 
meeting. At the amiual town meeting the vari¬ 
ous officers of the town are elected. In some states 
the voting for the principal town officers must be 
by ballot. The meeting is called to order by the 
town clerk, then the warrant is read and a mod¬ 
erator is elected. It is the duty of the moderator 
to preside at the meeting, to put all motions, de¬ 
clare the vote, to see that everything is done in 
proper legal form, and to preserve order. 

The officers of a town include a town clerk, 
treasurer, selectmen, — or, as they are termed in 
some states, the town council, — assessors of taxes, 
constable, collector of taxes (in many cases the 
constable is collector of taxes, and in some states 
the town treasurer acts as such), school com¬ 
mittee, overseers of the poor, road commissioners 
or highway surveyors, and sometimes other offi¬ 
cers, differing in different states. 

Besides the appointment of town officers the 
voters assembled in town meeting levy taxes, 
and make apportionments of money for school 
purposes, highways, the support of the poor, and 
for such other purposes as may seem necessary, 
such as street lights in thickly settled portions of 
the town, fire engines, bridges, and various other 
matters. 

Town Clerk. — It is the duty of the Town 


20 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


Clerk to keep the records of all business done 
in the town meetings during the year for which 
he was elected, to keep records of births, mar¬ 
riages, and deaths in the town, and perform such 
other duties of a like nature as the law requires. 

Town Treasurer. — It is the duty of the Town 
Treasurer to keep safely all moneys intrusted to 
him, receiving the town’s money from the Collec¬ 
tor of Taxes, from the debtors of the town in 
payment of bills due to the town, moneys re¬ 
ceived from the state for specified purposes and 
from any other sources from which the town may 
receive money. He is to pay out this money on 
the orders of the proper town officers in accord¬ 
ance with law, and in payment of bills against 
the town when certified or audited by the proper 
officers. The Town Treasurer is also required 
to look after the invested funds of the town, re¬ 
ceiving the interest or income from such funds, 
and making a report as occasion may require 
from time to time to the town meeting or to the 
Selectmen. 

Selectmen. — The Selectmen or Town Council, 
or, as they are called in some states, trustees 
of townships, have the general charge of the ex¬ 
ecutive business of the town. They call the 
town meetings. In many states they receive 
and count the votes for state and national offi- 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


21 


cers, they act as a board of health, where a board 
has not been appointed, they lay out highways, 
appoint certain minor officers, they represent the 
town in suits at law, they draw jurors, in some 
cases grant licenses, and do many other things, 
some of which differ in different states. 

Assessors of Taxes. — It is the duty of the 
Assessors of Taxes to make an inventory of all 
the real estate in the town with the names of 
the owners thereof, of all personal property and 
owners, and make a list of the names of all per¬ 
sons against whom a poll tax is levied. The 
town having voted the amount of tax to be 
raised, the assessors will subtract from this sum 
the amount of all poll taxes, and then determine 
the percentage which is necessary to raise the 
remainder of the required tax from the total tax¬ 
able property of the town. The tax list is then 
turned over to the Collector, whose duty it is to 
notify each person what his tax is and demand 
payment thereof. This notice usually states when 
and where the tax may be paid, and if not paid 
within the time allowed by law, then the Collec¬ 
tor must institute measures in accordance with 
law for its collection from the property assessed. 

Constable. — It is the duty of the Constable, 
like a police officer, to make arrests in accordance 
with law of persons charged with crime. A Con- 


22 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT, 


stable having arrested a person will hold him as 
■prisoner and convey him to a safe place of deten¬ 
tion, keeping him in custody until he shall have 
a trial and be acquitted or sent to jail. It is the 
duty of the Constable also to serve warrants and 
writs, summon witnesses, and to perform all such 
duties as are laid upon him by law. 

School Committee. — Our people maintain in 
all the states and in all the territories a system of 
free schools. These schools are not established 
and maintained by national authority, but by 
state and territorial laws. In some states the 
schools are sustained by the state government, 
under uniform state laws, the state holding in its 
hands absolute control of all public schools within 
its jurisdiction. In such cases the state provides 
for the appointment generally of county superin¬ 
tendents and county school boards, the township 
having but little jurisdiction in the matter. In 
most of the older states, in the eastern part of the 
country, the township system prevails. In this 
section the state usually has a Board of Education 
and makes laws concerning the schools and their 
general management, but leaves the particular 
care of them to the towns. In such cases there 
is usually a state appropriation for school pur¬ 
poses, and another appropriation by each town, 
according to its needs. In this case the schools 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT, 


23 


of the town are placed under the control of the 
School Committee elected by that town. This 
Committee usually consists of three or more per¬ 
sons, generally an odd number, who, in accordance 
with the laws of the state, have the entire manage¬ 
ment and control of the public schools. In most 
states having School Committees they examine 
the teachers, grant them certificates, fix the rate 
of wages, approve the bills for payment, build, 
repair, and keep in order the school-houses, 
arrange courses of study, examine the schools, 
determine rules and regulations for them, etc. 

Overseers of the Poor. — These officers have 
charge of the poor people belonging in the town, 
who have no relatives to support them, making 
proper arrangements for their support, either in 
the almshouse — sometimes called the poor-house 

— or boarding them in private families. In some 
cases this duty is assigned to the Selectmen. 

Road Commissioners or Highway Surveyors. 

— These officers have charge of all the necessary 
repairs on the highways and of the building of 
new roads when ordered by the town. 

The duties of other town officers need not be 
specified. 

Herrick’s “ Powers and Duties of Town Offi^ 
cers in Massachusetts ” gives the following as the 
law in that state concerning town meetings: 


24 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


“ Every town meeting shall be held in pursu¬ 
ance of a warrant under the hand of the select¬ 
men, directed to the constables or to some other 
persons appointed by the selectmen for that pur¬ 
pose, who shall forthwith notify such meeting in 
the manner prescribed by the by-laws or by a vote 
of the town. The selectmen may by the same 
warrant call two or more distinct town meetings 
for distinct purposes. 

“ The warrant shall express the time and place 
of the meeting, and the subjects to be there acted 
upon; the selectmen shall insert therein all sub¬ 
jects which may, in writing, be requested of them 
by any ten or more voters of the town, and noth¬ 
ing acted upon shall have a legal operation, un¬ 
less the subject-matter thereof is contained in the 
warrant.” 

The following is the form of the warrant for 
calling the Annual Town Meeting in the state 
of Massachusetts: — 

Warrant for calling the Annual Town Meeting. 

E-, ss. To either of the Constables of the town 

of B-, in the said county, Greeting : 

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
you are directed to notify the inhabitants of the town of 

B- qualified to vote in elections and in town affairs, 

to meet at the Town Hall in said B--, on - the 





LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


25 


- clay of - next, at-o’clock in the forenoon, 

then and there to act on the following articles : — 

1. To choose a moderator to preside in said meeting. 

2. To choose all necessary town officers for the year 
ensuing. 

3. To hear the annual report of the selectmen, and 
act thereon. 

4. To raise such sums of money as may be necessary 
to defray town charges for the ensuing year, and make 
appropriations of the same. 

And you are directed to serve this warrant, by post¬ 
ing up attested copies thereof, one at the Town Hall, 
and one at each of the public meeting-houses in the said 
town, fourteen days at least before the time for holding 

said meeting. The polls will open at-o’clock, a.m., 

and will close at-o’clock, p.m. 

Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant, 
with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the 
time and place of meeting as aforesaid. 

Given under our hands this-day of-, in the 

year one thousand eight hundred and-. 

Selectmen of B- 

[Note to the Teacher. — Object lessons are the most effective 
of all lessons. It is the practice of some of our best teachers to 
have the scholars conduct a mock town meeting. Previous to the 
day on which the town meeting is held, the teacher should write 
off, or have written, a warrant, which should be posted in some 
convenient place in the school-house, signed by the selectmen, 
previously appointed from the scholars by the teacher. A town 
constable and a town clerk should also be previously appointed *, — 
the constable to post the warrant and make returns thereon, and 
the town clerk should call the meeting to order, and preside until 
a moderator be elected. 









26 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


On the day the town meeting is held, the school should organize 
and carry through the forms of such a meeting according to the 
warrant already posted. If it be an Annual Town Meeting, let the 
town officers be elected by ballot, let the business of the town, as 
embodied in the warrant, be conducted in order, and the meeting 
finally adjourned. 

Any skilful teacher who has a few bright scholars in the school 
(and what school has not?) will find this practice of holding town 
meetings or of holding mock courts, or a Legislative Assembly, as 
the House or the Senate, to be of much interest and of great value 
to the school.] 

Section III. — Cities. 

When the population of the town becomes so 
large that it would be difficult to transact public 
business in the town meeting, it is customary 
all over the country for the town, by a majority 
vote, to apply for a city charter. In some states 
a special act of the Legislature is necessary to 
grant a charter for the new city. In other states 
a charter may be obtained, under circumstances 
defined by law, from the officers of the state in 
accordance with a general statute for the incor¬ 
poration of cities. This charter must be ac¬ 
cepted by a majority of the legal voters at the 
town meeting called for that purpose. The 
charter defines the duties of the several officers 
to be chosen under it. 

The City Government. — The City Govern¬ 
ment is vested in the Mayor and the City Coun¬ 
cil. The Council may consist of two bodies, (i) a 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


27 


Board of Aldermen and (2) a larger board called 
a Common Council, or it may consist of but 
one body, a Board of Aldermen and no Council, 
or a Council and no Board of Aldermen. 

The Mayor is elected by the voters of the 
whole city. The Aldermen are in some cases 
elected by wards and in others on a general ticket 
for the whole city. The members of the Com¬ 
mon Council are usually elected by wards. 

The city, like the town, has its school commit¬ 
tee, assessors of taxes, overseers of the poor, clerk, 
treasurer, collector of taxes; and it usually has 
a superintendent of streets, officers of the fire 
department, a city solicitor, a city physician, au¬ 
ditor, city marshal or chief of police, and some¬ 
times other officers. Many of these officers are 
appointed by the City Council rather than elected 
by the people. 

Mayor, — The Mayor is the executive officer 
of the city. He must see that the laws are en¬ 
forced, and that subordinate officers are faithful 
in their duties. He makes recommendations to 
the City Council. Usually he has a veto power 
over the Council similar to the veto power of the 
Governor over the legislature. The Mayor in 
some cases is considered as a member of the 
Board of Aldermen, and presides over them. In 
other cases he presides over them but has only 


28 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


the casting vote. In other cases still he is not 
connected with the Board of Aldermen. 

The Aldermen. — The Board of Aldermen 
have powers and duties corresponding to those 
of the selectmen in the towns. They draw 
jurors, issue warrants for ward meetings, and in 
legislative matters have joint power with the 
Common Council. 

City Council. — The City Council, whether 
consisting of one body or of two, have the power 
to fix the salaries of officers, to levy taxes, borrow 
money, make appropriations for the various de¬ 
partments of the City Government, and in gen¬ 
eral to care for the public interests of the city. 
The City Council pass what are called ordi¬ 
nances relating to public matters, like the con¬ 
struction of sewers, the erection of buildings, 
obstruction of streets, prevention against fires, 
punishing vagrancy and truancy, and whatever 
is needful for the preservation of property, the 
public health, and the general well-being of the 
city. 

The town organization, as has been seen, is a 
democracy, while the City Government is repre¬ 
sentative. The executive power of the mayor 
and aldermen in the city corresponds to that of 
the selectmen in the town. The legislative power 
in the city is found in the City Council instead 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


29 


of the whole body of voters as in the town. The 
City Council elects inferior officers instead of the 
people as in the town. In the city, voters meet 
in districts or wards for. the election of officers, 
while in towns all the voters usually meet in one 
body. In some instances, however, large towns 
have been divided into voting precincts. 

Section IV. — Counties. 

The state is divided for convenience in local 
government into counties, or into counties and 
towns. In the south and some portions of the 
west, the states are only divided into counties. 
In New England and some of the Middle and 
Western States, the counties are sub-divided into 
towns or townships. The division into counties 
is found in every state except Louisiana, which 
is divided into parishes. 

In all states where the counties are .divided 
into towns, the town is the unit of government, 
and in some states more important than the 
county. Where the counties are not thus di¬ 
vided, the county is the unit of government. 
Where towns exist, the local government is 
divided between the county and the town. Both 
counties and towns are corporations. 

County Commissioners. — In most of the states, 
but especially in those states where the local gov- 


30 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


eminent is vested in the county rather than the 
town, the chief executive officers for the counties 
are called County Commissioners. In some states 
there are officers called supervisors, and the super¬ 
visors of the several towns in the county form a 
board of supervisors for that county. These 
boards have the care of the public property of 
the county and attend to all matters of building 
or repairing public buildings, such as the court¬ 
house and county jail. In those states where no 
towns are found, or where the county officers 
have more political power than those of the 
towns, these county boards or county commis¬ 
sioners exercise large powers with regard to 
schools, taxes, highways, bridges, etc. 

County Treasurer. — Each county has a Treas¬ 
urer who has the custody of all moneys belonging 
to the county, receiving the funds and paying 
them out as required. 

County Auditor. — In some states there are 
officers called County Auditors, whose duty it is 
to examine and certify bills against the county. 

Recorder or Registrar of Deeds. — In most 
states each county has a Recorder or Registrar 
of Deeds, whose duty it is to keep permanent 
records of all deeds, mortgages, and other written 
instruments which are required by law. In a few 
states these records are kept by the town clerks 
in the several towns. 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


3 


Sheriff. — Each county has a Sheriff, or, as 
in some states, a Deputy Sheriff, to distinguish 
him from the High Sheriff. It is the duty of 
the Sheriff to execute all warrants, writs, and 
other processes intrusted to him by the courts, 
to arrest persons accused of crime, and to have 
charge of the county jail and its prisoners. 

Coroner. — It is the duty of the Coroner to 
inquire into the causes of the death of persons 
who have died suddenly or by violence. The 
Coroner summons a jury, who examine witnesses 
and give their opinion in writing as to the man¬ 
ner and cause of the person’s death. This is 
called a Coroner’s inquest.^ 

District Attorney. — It is the duty of the Dis¬ 
trict Attorney to conduct the prosecution in all 
courts of the county in which persons are tried 
for crimes. He is sometimes called the prosecut¬ 
ing attorney or the state’s attorney. 

Assessors. — Wherever the taxes are assessed 
and collected by counties instead of by towns, the 
counties have Assessors and Collectors of Taxes. 
Their duties have already been described. There 
are also county Surveyors and other officers differ¬ 
ing in different states. 

School Commissioners or Superintendents. — 

In a large number of states the public schools are 
managed by counties. In such cases the county 

1 In Massachusetts, where there is no Coroner, the inquiry is made by 
a “ Medical Examiner,” and the inquest is held by a court or trial justice. 


32 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


has a School Commissioner or a Superintendent 
of Schools, whose duty it is to examine teachers, 
visit the schools, and attend to general matters 
relating thereto, but only as directed by the laws 
of the state. In some states there are county 
boards of education, differently constituted, who 
have under their care the interests of the public 
schools. 

These various county officers may be consid¬ 
ered as belonging to two classes in respect to 
their jurisdiction. Some of them are the repre¬ 
sentatives of the county only, while others are 
considered as state officials, but exercise their 
power only in their own county. The County 
Sheriff arrests a man for crime, but as the crime 
is fixed by state law, it is considered that the state 
arrests the man; yet this arrest is made by the 
agent of the county. So when the district attorney 
prosecutes him, it is in the name of the state whose 
law he has violated. But the county commission¬ 
ers, or the recorder, or county treasurer act only 
for their county, and in no sense in the name of 
the state 


Section V. — Education. 

Perhaps no department of our government is 
of more importance than our system of public 
schools. Although these are supported and regu- 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


33 


lated by the state, yet they are substantially local 
institutions and may properly be treated in this 
place. 

Monarchies do not necessarily rely on the in¬ 
telligence of the people for the preservation of 
their form of government, but a republic is made 
secure only by the intelligence and morality of all 
the people. It is generally agreed that intelli¬ 
gence, enterprise, thrift, and virtue are essential 
elements for a popular government. It would be 
unwise and dangerous to the state for us to allow 
any portion of our people to bring up their chil¬ 
dren in ignorance or vice. 

The public school began its history in this 
country in New England. The Boston Latin 
School dates from 1635. Harvard College was 
founded, partly by private gifts and partly by the 
government of Massachusetts Bay, in 1636. The 
town of Dorchester established the first public 
school which was supported by taxation in 1639. 
From this time onward the district school in New 
England became an important institution, so that 
long ago it was considered one of the boasted 
products of New England. 

When the territory northwest of the Ohio River 
was first settled, many of the pioneers went from 
the Eastern States. . They carried with them and 
established in that section the New England 


34 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


system of public schools. This institution has 
since prevailed in all the great northwest and in 
the states upon the Pacific coast, and since the 
late war it has been established by law in every 
southern state. All the organized territories have 
also established for themselves public schools. We 
have then to-day a system of public schools pre¬ 
vailing in every state of the Union, in every organ¬ 
ized territory, and in the District of Columbia. 
The laws relating to the schools, as well as their 
management, differ greatly in different states. 
In New England, where they first started, much 
is left to the people of each town. The state has 
a Board of Education and a Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. In some states this officer is 
called a Commissioner of Education, in others he 
is termed the Secretary of the Board of Educa¬ 
tion. The state makes laws for the government 
of the schools, and apportions a certain sum of 
money among the several towns, but each town 
levies a tax upon its inhabitants and their property 
for school purposes. 

In the west and the south the states have a more 
direct management of the schools, exercising a 
more immediate control over them. Many states 
have school funds to aid in supporting their public 
schools. In those states where the counties are 
not divided into townships, the schools are county 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


35 


schools, usually divided into districts for schools 
of the lower grades, but having one or more 
county high schools. 

In some states public schools are largely ele¬ 
mentary in their character, but a majority of the 
states carry public instruction through a high 
school course. Many of the Western States main¬ 
tain also state universities, in which any young 
person belonging in the state can have free in¬ 
struction through a liberal course of college or 
university study. 

Private Institutions of Learning. — In addi¬ 
tion to the public schools, all sections of our 
country maintain many private institutions of 
learning. There are private schools — primary, 
grammar, and high — in most of our large towns 
and cities. Many academies and seminaries have 
been founded and endowed by benevolent per¬ 
sons, where an excellent education can be ob¬ 
tained at moderate expense. Colleges and uni¬ 
versities are numerous in all parts of our country. 
Many of them are well endowed with large funds, 
enabling them to give a liberal education at a 
small part of its actual cost. Of late, parochial 
schools have been established by the Roman 
Catholic Church in large numbers in different 
sections of the country. The different Protes¬ 
tant denominations have, to a greater or less 


36 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


extent, denominational schools here and there, 
of various grades. Perhaps there is no country 
in the world where the opportunities for every 
one to obtain a good education are more wide¬ 
spread than in the United States of America. 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to reeall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

TOWNS. 

1. Give an account of the early New England town. 

2. Western towns. Why are the towns in some sections 
of less relative importance than in New England? 

3. Town meeting — importance. 

4. Town officers — how elected. 

5. Duties of Town Clerk. 

6 . Duties of Town Treasurer. 

7. Duties of Selectmen. 

8. Duties of Assessors. 

9. Duties of Constable. 

10. Duties of School Committee. 

11. Duties of Overseers of the Poor. 

12. Duties of Road Commissioners. 

13. What preliminaries are needed before a town meeting 
can be legally organized ? 

14. What can be done legally in a town meeting? 

CITIES. 

15. What is a city charter? 

16. How obtained? 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


37 


17. Difference between a town government and a city 
government. 

. 18. How is the Mayor elected ? 

19. Duties of Mayor. 

20. Duties of Aldermen. 

21. Duties of Councilmen. 

COUNTIES. 

22. Where are counties of the most importance? Why? 

23. What state has no counties? 

24. When are counties units of government? 

25. Duties of County Commissioners. 

26. Duties of County Treasurer. 

27. Duties of County Auditor. 

28. Duties of Recorder. 

29. Duties of Sheriff. 

30. Duties of Coroner. 

31. Duties of District Attorney. 

32. Duties of Assessors. 

33. Duties of School Commissioners. 

34. Write an essay upon our system of public schools. 

[Let different pupils take different topics concerning public schools, 
e.g.: (i) Why is it right or just to tax all the property to support public 
schools? (2) The necessity of compulsory education. (3) Should the 
state support high schools? (4) Should it support colleges? (5) Advan¬ 
tages and disadvantages of private schools. (6) Advantages of graded 
schools. (7) Why should we learn to read? (8) Is it a disgrace to be a 
poor speller? (9) Is it any credit to be a good speller?] 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT. 

I- Legislative | 2. Executive. 

3. Judicial. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

I. The House. | 2. The Senate. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

I. The Governor. | 2. The Lieutenant-Governorc 

3. The Council. 

OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICERS. 


1. Secretary of State. 

2. Treasurer. 

3. Auditor. 

4. Attorney-General. 

5. Surveyor-General. 

6. Commissioner of Public 

Schools. 

7. State Librarian, and others. 


THE STATE COURTS. 


1. Justice Courts. 

2. Police Courts. 

1 3. County Courts. 

1 4. Supreme Court. 


38 



CHAPTER III. 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 

Section. I. — Their Origin. 

When the War of the Revolution commenced, 
it united thirteen English colonies, which were 
located along the Atlantic coast of North Amer¬ 
ica, in rebellion against the British government. 
On the 4th of July, 1776, these colonies, through 
their delegates assembled in the Continental 
Congress, declared themselves independent of 
the mother country, and published to the world 
their intention of taking their place as one of 
the nations of the earth. The several colonies 
at that moment became states. They immedi¬ 
ately adjusted their government in accordance 
with the new conditions under which, they were 
placed. On that same day began the new nation 
of the United States of America, and the separate 
existence of each state as a state in the Union. 
One after another of these states formed a written 
constitution for itself, some just before, the others 
after the Declaration. These were termed state 
constitutions. Every one of the present forty- 

39 


40 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


four states has a written constitution, which was 
formed by a convention of the people, and which 
has been adopted by a majority vote. 

Virginia was the first state to adopt a consti¬ 
tution, June 29, 1776. On the 2d of July, New 
Jersey adopted a constitution. These two were 
prior to the Declaration of Independence. Be¬ 
fore the end of that year, Maryland, Delaware, 
Pennsylvania, and North Carolina had adopted 
constitutions. In 1777 Georgia, New York, and 
Vermont adopted constitutions, although Ver¬ 
mont was not admitted into the Union as a state 
until 1791. South Carolina adopted her consti¬ 
tution in 1778, Massachusetts in 1780, and New 
Hampshire in 1784. 

Connecticut and Rhode Island continued their 
governments under their former charters received 
from the king. The charter of Connecticut dated 
from April 20, 1662, and it served as a constitu¬ 
tion for that state until the year 1818. The 
charter of - Rhode Island went into operation 
July 8, 1663, and that little state retained it as 
her constitution until the year 1842, when she 
adopted a state constitution. At the time that 
charter was superseded by the new constitution 
(1842), it was the oldest written constitution then 
in force in the world. 

These various state constitutions all contained 
substantially: — 


STATE GOVEEA^MEJVTS 


4? 


1. A Bill of Rights. 

2. An Executive Department. 

3. A Legislative Department. 

4. A Judicial Department. 

Section II. — The Legislative Department. 

The Legislative Department makes the laws 
for the state, but the state laws must not conflict 
with the constitution of the state nor the consti¬ 
tution of the nation. The state laws relate to 
matters of justice, equity, and rights, concerning 
the dealings of the citizens with each other and 
with the state. They provide for the organiza¬ 
tion of corporations, the establishment and sup¬ 
port of educational and charitable institutions, 
and make all needed regulations for the prosecu¬ 
tion and punishment of crime. In general, the 
aim of the Legislature in all laws is to promote 
the general welfare of the people of the state. 

It was but natural that these English colonists 
should follow in many things the notions and cus¬ 
toms which they had received from the mother 
country. In Great Britain the Legislative De¬ 
partment of the government included the House 
of Commons and the House of Lords. The 
American states severally, and the United States 
in its constitution, all followed the British system 
of two houses. 


42 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


The House of Representatives. — Each state 
has a House of Representatives, although not 
always called by that name. The Representa¬ 
tives are chosen in nearly all of the states on* the 
basis of population. For this purpose the state 
is divided into representative districts. A few 
states elect representatives for one year, but more 
elect for two years; while some elect for three 
years, and a few for four years. 

The Senate. —The Senate is considered the 
upper house of the Legislature. The office of 
Senator is supposed to be of higher honor than 
that of Representative. The Senators are cho¬ 
sen from senatorial districts, which in all of the 
states are larger than the representative dis¬ 
tricts, making the Senate a smaller body than 
the House. Each house has a list of standing 
committees, and most of the business of the two 
houses is considered, examined, digested, and re¬ 
ported to the house by the appropriate commit¬ 
tees ; so that much of the ordinary business of 
the house is to pass a formal sanction upon what 
has been done by the committees. In this way 
the transaction of business is greatly facilitated, 
and the result is probably wiser than if every de¬ 
tail came before the full house. 

When, however, some matter of importance 
upon which there is a diversity of opinion comes 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


43 


from a committee, the house discusses the sub¬ 
ject, the members who are specially interested in 
that particular question debate it with all the 
strength of their decided convictions; and then, 
•when the majority has decided the point, the 
minority yield gracefully, and the law is passed or 
defeated, as the case may be. 

The Making of a Law. — Before any bill can 
become a law it must be presented to one of these 
two houses, usually reported upon favorably by a 
committee, passed to a second reading, generally 
laid over until another day, then being called up 
it takes its third reading, and if adopted by the 
requisite vote, is sent to the other house. Here 
it goes through the same form as before, and on 
a favorable report from the proper committee it 
passes to its three readings. If at the third read¬ 
ing it obtains a majority vote, it is ordered to be 
engrossed and sent to the Governor for his signa¬ 
ture. In most states the Governor has a veto 
over all bills passed by the Legislature. If he 
signs the bill, thereby indicating his approval of 
it, it becomes a law, and it is then sent to the 
Secretary of State to be placed on file for pres¬ 
ervation. If the Governor disapproves of the 
bill he refuses to sign it, or in other words he 
“vetoes” the bill, and returns it with his objec¬ 
tions to the house where it originated. In this 


44 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


case it must pass the two houses of the Legisla¬ 
ture again, and in nearly all the states a two- 
thirds vote is necessary. If it fails to receive 
this vote in either house, the bill is killed. In 
some states a majority vote only is necessary to 
pass the bill over the Governor’s veto. 

Each house is the judge of the election and 
qualifications of its own members, chooses its 
own officers, and establishes its rules of proced¬ 
ure. In some of the states the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives only can originate bills looking toward 
taxation or the expenditure of money. 


Section III.—The Executive Department. 

The Governor. — The chief executive officer 
of the state is the Governor. It is a common 
custom to apply to him the title of “His Excel¬ 
lency.” In the early history of the states New 
Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and South 
Carolina called the executive officer the Presi¬ 
dent. All other states from the outset gave him 
the name of Governor. 

In a monarchy the chief executive officer is the 
monarch himself. In him is the source of power, 
and other officers are responsible to him. Under 
a republican form of government, as in the sev¬ 
eral states, the executive officer holds inferior offi- 


STATE GOEERNMEJVTS. 


45 


cers responsible to him, but he in turn is respon¬ 
sible to the people, who are the source of all 
political power. 

Term of Office. — The Governor is elected by 
the people ; in some states annually, in others for 
the period of two, three, or four years. The ten 
dency at present seems to be toward biennial 
elections. 

Qualifications. — The qualifications necessary 
for a Governor differ in the different states. The 
qualifications for a Governor in every state are 
determined by the constitution of that state. 
These constitutions commonly agree that to be 
eligible for the office of Governor a person must 
have been for a certain number of years a citizen 
of the United States, and for a term of years im¬ 
mediately preceding his election a resident of the 
state. He must also be above a certain age, 
which in most of the states is thirty years. 

Powers and Duties. — The executive powers 
and duties of the Governor are important and 
various. It is his duty to represent the state on 
public occasions and in its dealings with other 
states and the United States. He is Commander- 
in-Chief of the military forces of the state, and has 
the power to call out the militia of the state in 
time of insurrection. It is his especial care as 
the chief executive to see that the laws be faith- 


46 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


fully executed. He has power to call upon the 
different executive officers under him for informa¬ 
tion concerning the condition of affairs in their 
respective departments. He communicates infor¬ 
mation of the condition of the state by message 
to the Legislature when in session, and is accus¬ 
tomed to recommend to that department of the 
government such measures as he considers neces¬ 
sary and desirable. He usually has the power to 
call together the Legislature on extraordinary 
occasions. In most states he has the veto power. 

The Governor has certain judicial powers. In 
most states the power is granted to him by the 
constitution to reprieve or pardon criminals. To 
reprieve a criminal is to postpone or delay for a 
certain time the execution of the sentence which 
has been already pronounced upon him. To par¬ 
don is to free the criminal entirely from the exe¬ 
cution of the sentence. A pardon forgives the 
offence and releases the offender. Most states 
also give the Governor the power to commute a 
sentence; that is, to change the penalty or pun¬ 
ishment for a less severe one. For instance, when 
a person has been sentenced to capital punish¬ 
ment, the Governor may commute that sentence 
to imprisonment for life. In some states the par¬ 
doning power is not given to the Governor, but 
is retained in the hands of the Legislature, or the 
Senate, or the Governor’s Council. 



STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


47 


The Governor has also in all states more or 
less appointing power. He appoints many ex¬ 
ecutive officers and sometimes judicial officers. 
This power of appointment differs greatly in the 
different states. In some states he appoints all 
the principal executive and judicial officers, such 
as the Secretary of State, the Attorney-General, 
and the judges of the courts. In other states 
these officers are elected by the people, and the 
Governor appoints only officers of a lower grade. 
In none of the states has he the power to ap¬ 
point legislative officers. In some states tlie 
Governor is intrusted with powers and duties 
which it is not necessary to mention here. Some 
states provide for a “ Governor’s Council,” or, as 
it is sometimes called, an “ Executive Council.” 
The members of this council are usually elected 
by the people, and their duty is to advise the 
Governor, especially in regard to certain matters 
definitely stated in the laws. 

Lieutenant-Governor. — Most of the states 
have an officer called a Lieutenant-Governor. 
In one-quarter of the states this office does not 
exist. Usually he has but few duties. In most 
of the states which have such an officer he pre¬ 
sides in the Senate. The principal reason for 
having a Lieutenant-Governor is to guard against 
a vacancy in the office of Governor. Should the 


48 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


Governor die, or by any reason be removed or 
become incompetent to discharge the powers and 
duties of his office, these would devolve upon 
the Lieutenant-Governor; but in every instance 
only in accordance with the constitution of the 
state. 

Executive Officers. — The executive officers 
vary in the different states. In most of them 
the constitutioa provides for a secretary of state, 
an auditor or comptroller, a treasurer, and an 
attorney-general. Some states have an officer 
called a surveyor-general, whose duty it is to 
look after the lands belonging to the state; a 
superintendent of schools, or superintendent of 
public instruction, or commissioner of public 
schools; state printer; a state librarian, and 
others. 

Some states have boards of education whose 
duty it is to exercise supervision over the normal 
schpols of the state, if there are such; prescribe 
forms for registers and blank-books for school 
statistics; to direct or advise the superintendent 
of public instruction; and to make annual re¬ 
port to the Legislature of the state concerning 
education within its limits, with recommenda¬ 
tions for necessary legislation or appropriations. 

Some states have a board of agriculture, a 
board of health, a board of prison commission- 


STATE GOVERNMEIVTS, 


49 


ers, a board of railroad commissioners, harbor 
commissioners, insurance commissioners, commis¬ 
sioners of savings banks, and the like. 


Section IV.—The Judicial Department. 

The constitutions of the several states provide 
for the establishment of courts of justice and 
carefully define their powers. In some states the 
judges are appointed, and in others they are 
elected by the people. The legislative depart¬ 
ment makes laws, the executive department en¬ 
forces them, but the judicial department interprets 
the laws and decides cases of law, making the 
proper application so as to insure justice to indi¬ 
viduals. The names and powers of the different 
courts differ greatly among the several states. In 
no two states is the judicial department exactly 
alike. All that can be done here is to give a 
tolerably correct idea of the judicial system to be 
fgund in most of the states. 

Justices of the Peace. — In the various towns 
or counties in the different states officers are 
chosen, termed Justices of the Peace. The justice 
will hold a petty court, in which he has the power 
to try civil cases which involve small amounts. 
Some states limit this amount to one hundred 
dollars, and others to fifty dollars. He has also 


50 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


the power to try persons charged with small 
crimes. Sometimes he has the power to make a 
preliminary examination and bind over criminals 
for trial in the higher courts. 

Police Courts. — In the cities the low^est order 
of courts, similar to the justice courts in the towns, 
is usually termed police courts. 

County Courts. — In most of the states the 
courts next above justice courts or police courts, 
which are organized for the trial of civil cases 
and of crimes, are held by counties, and are called 
by various terms, such as district courts, county 
courts, courts of common pleas, superior courts, 
etc. Many of the states outside of New England 
call these courts circuit courts. 

Supreme Court. — The highest court in the 
state is usually called the supreme court of such 
a state. This is usually not a court of original 
jurisdiction, but only for the trial of cases ap¬ 
pealed from the lower courts. 

Probate Courts. — The term probate court is 
used in most of the states with a uniform mean¬ 
ing. Usually there is one probate court in every 
county, which has generally but a single judge. 
These courts are quite different in character from 
the courts just described. They are not for the 
trial of disputes between citizens, nor for the trial 
of persons charged with crime, but their powers 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


51 


and duties relate exclusively to the settlement of 
the estates of deceased persons. They act upon 
wills, appoint administrators, and empower execu¬ 
tors to act in accordance with the wills. When 
a person dies, leaving property, but not having 
made a will, it is said that he dies intestate. In 
that case it is the duty of the probate court to 
appoint administrafors, whose duty it is to settle 
the estate, paying all lawful bills brought against 
it, and to divide the property among the relatives 
to whom it would belong by law. Strictly speak¬ 
ing, the administrator has no jurisdiction over the 
real estate of a person deceased. The lawful 
heirs can take possession of that without authority 
from the court. 

When a person dies leaving a will, he usually 
names in that will an executor or executors, whose 
duty it shall be under the will to dispose of his 
property in accordance with the provisions of the 
will. The probate court has power to remove 
executors or administrators who fail in the dis¬ 
charge of their duty, to settle their accounts, and 
to decide questions of dispute which may arise in 
the distribution of the estate. Probate courts are 
sometimes called orphans’ courts, because they 
have the power to take charge of the estates of 
minors whose parents have died, and to appoint 
guardians for them. 


52 


STATE GOVERNMENTS. 


Questions of dispute which may arise concern¬ 
ing decisions of probate courts may be appealed 
to the county courts or the supreme court of the 
state. 

Judges of the various courts are sometimes 
appointed by the Governor, sometimes by the Leg¬ 
islature, and sometimes elected by the people. 
Their terms of office differ in the different states. 
Frequently the term is from six to ten years. 
Justices of the peace are usually elected for one 
or two years. It is common in the New England 
States for the judges of the higher courts to hold 
office for life. All the officers under the judicial 
department, as well as those in the legislative and 
executive departments, receive salaries which are 
fixed by state laws. 

There are many other matters of various kinds 
relating to the state governments, which might 
be considered with propriety here, but which 
may better be omitted, especially for the reason 
that most of them will be fully explained and 
better understood under the department of our 
national government. The subordination of the 
parts to the whole, of the inferior to the superior, 
must be kept in mind. The town and the county 
are portions of the state, are inferior to the state, 
and are subject to its power and its law, but only 
so subject in matters over which the state by the 



STATE GOVERNMEIVTS. 


53 


constitution has authority vested in it. So in 
like manner it must be remembered that the 
states are parts of the nation, and as such are 
in subordination to the national authority, but 
only in such matters as the nation has power 
given to it by its constitution. 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. What was the Declaration of Independence? 

2. How did the colonies become states? 

3. Write a paper of one hundred words or more, describ¬ 
ing the legislative department of a state. 

4. Difference between the ‘‘ House ” and the “ Senate.” 

5. Describe how a law is made. 

6. Duties of the Governor. 

7. Is a Lieutenant-Governor like a fifth wheel to a coach ” ? 

8. What executive officers are there in the states ? 

9. Justice Courts. 

10. Police Courts. 

11. County Courts. 

12. Supreme Courts. 

13. Probate Courts. 

14. What is meant by intestate? 

15. What is meant by executor? 

16. What is meant by administrator? 

17. State Judges — how appointed or elected? 




BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


SETTLEMENTS. 

1' Spanish. ) 2. French. 

3. English. 

COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 


The Supreme Moment in 
the History of America. 
2. First Continental Congress. 


3. Second Continental Congress. 

4. Articles of Confederation. 

5. Plan of the Confederation. 


6. The Federal Convention. 


54 



CHAPTER IV. 


COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 

Section I. 

The Contest of the Kings for North America. 

— After the discovery of America by Columbus 
Spain claimed the right to the new world. It 
was not long, however, before Great Britain, 
France, and other nations sent over vessels on 
exploring expeditions, each claiming the right to 
the country along whose coast they sailed. A 
little later settlements were attempted here and 
there from Quebec to St. Augustine, in Mexico, 
Central and South America. 

Spanish Settlements. — Spain made the first 
permanent settlement in what is now the United 
States, at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. Spain 
at an early date took possession of Mexico, Cen¬ 
tral America, and a large part of the Atlantic 
coast of South America. So it came to pass 
that the Spanish Provinces were all further south 
than the country which at a later date became 
the United States of America. 


55 


56 


COLONIAL HISTORY. 


French Settlements. — The French people 
are entitled to great praise for their early explo¬ 
rations and settlements in North America, and 
for the devoted efforts of French priests to in¬ 
struct and Christianize the North American 
Indians. Father Marquette, Chevalier De La 
Salle, Joliet, and many others penetrated into the 
wilderness, traced the course of the principal 
rivers, navigated the Great Lakes, and explored 
the entire valley of the St. Lawrence and the 
Great Basin of the Mississippi. 

They had possession of what is now the British 
Provinces at the north of us, and of the entire 
country between the Alleghanies and the Rocky 
Mountains. 

English Settlements. — Great Britain was at 
an early date very active in sending out expedi¬ 
tions for discovery and explorations. The Cabots, 
Sir Francis Drake, Sir Flumphrey Gilbert, Capt. 
John Smith, Gosnold, and others sailed along the 
Atlantic coast, taking possession of the country 
in the name of the king of Great Britain. Set¬ 
tlements were effected at Jamestown, Plymouth, 
Salem, Boston, Hartford, New Haven, and later 
still Philadelphia, and along the coast of the Caro- 
linas and Georgia. 

The Contest for Supremacy. — Thus it hap¬ 
pened that these three great European nations, 


COLONIAL HISTORY. 


57 


to say nothing of Portugal, Holland, Sweden, 
and other minor powers, had before the middle 
of the last century planted flourishing settle¬ 
ments and organized governments for prosperous 
colonies along the coast and in the interior from 
Quebec to the Isthmus of Darien. 

If the map of North America were made in 
three colors, showing the several parts of this 
continent held by these three great powers from 
1740 to 1750, the lines would be somewhat as fol¬ 
lows : The green color, which might represent 
Spain, would cover Florida, Mexico, and Central 
America. The yellow shade, representing France, 
would include all of the present British America 
and the entire valley of the Mississippi River. 
The red, which we will have represent the British 
power, will cover only the few feeble colonies along 
the coast from Maine to Florida, and extending 
westward to the Alleghany Mountains. 


Section IL—The Contest Ended. 

The Supreme Moment in the History of 
America. — In the year 1754 hostilities broke out 
between the English colonies in North America 
and the French. During several years preceding 
this date the French had established a line of 
posts along the Ohio River and near the Alle- 


58 


COLONIAL HISTORY. 


ghany Mountains, intending to prevent the Eng¬ 
lish from extending themselves beyond the moun¬ 
tains to the westward. Washington, at the head 
of troops from Virginia, was sent to dislodge the 
French from Fort Duquesne. In the next year, 
1755, occurred the defeat of General Braddock 
near this fort. In 1756 Ford Foudon was sent 
to command the British troops in America. The 
contest went on with the battle of Fouisburg, 
Fort William and Henry, and the capture of Fort 
Frontenac. The English were defeated at Fort 
Ticonderoga, and fought other battles, until Gen¬ 
eral Wolfe was sent by the British to take Que¬ 
bec, and there defeated the French army under 
Montcalm. 

The Battle of Quebec. — During the night the 
British forces climbed the steep precipice from the 
river up to the “ Plains of Abraham.” A fierce 
battle ensued. It was the turning-point in the his¬ 
tory of America. If the French should be able to 
compel the forces to retreat, France might reason¬ 
ably expect to hold permanent possession of both 
the French and the English colonies of North 
America. If, on the other hand, the English 
should capture the city of Quebec, France would 
be beaten, and she would be obliged to surrender 
her vast possessions in this new world to Great 
Britain. The English were successful. Wolfe 


COLONIAL HISTORY. 


59 


and Montcalm were both killed. Montcalm, when 
dying, said, “ I am happy that I shall not live to 
see the surrender of Quebec.” Wolfe, after re¬ 
ceiving his mortal wound, being told that the 
French were fleeing everywhere, said, “ Now God 
be praised! I die in peace.” This was in the 
year 1760, and soon after the English completed 
the capture of Canada. 

Had the French succeeded in this contest, the 
English colonies would have been obliged to sur¬ 
render themselves to the domination of France. 
The French language, French customs, French 
laws, would have controlled America; but, on the 
other hand, as the English were victorious, France 
was swept from the continent of America, and not 
till the beginning of the present century did she 
again secure any foothold here. The treaty of 
1763 between England and France was a great 
triumph for the English-speaking race. 

One historian says, “ England, proudly impe¬ 
rious, drunk with success, dictated humiliating 
terms to France, and robbed her of all her pos¬ 
sessions in North America.” Great Britain took 
possession of the entire valley of the St. Law¬ 
rence,— which carried with it all the country 
which we now know as British America, — and 
all the territory east of the Mississippi River. 
France was permitted to cede to Spain the terri- 


6 o 


COLONIAL HISTORY. 


tory west of the Mississippi River, lying between 
that river and the Rocky Mountains, which was 
known as the “ Province of Louisiana.” This 
may well be called the supreme moment in the 
history of North America. From this time on¬ 
ward it was manifest that England and the Eng¬ 
lish-speaking people must dominate this country. 
Count De Vergennes, a distinguished French 
statesman, was at that time the French minister 
at Constantinople. As soon as he heard what 
the English demands had been, and that the 
French had lost all in North America, he said, 
“ The English have overshot the mark. Their 
next step will be to tax their American colonies 
to help defray the expenses of this war. The 
Americans, then no longer needing the protec¬ 
tion of England, will refuse to pay the tax, and 
strike off all dependence upon the mother coun¬ 
try.” This was in 1763. How true his prophecy 
was will readily appear when we observe that the 
Declaration of Independence was passed only 
thirteen years later. The British did tax the 
colonies, the colonies did refuse to pay the tax, 
and, the Erench power being entirely swept away, 
and the Spanish being far off beyond the Missis¬ 
sippi, they no longer feared any foreign nation, so 
that their own independence was only a question of 
time. The Stamp Act alienated the Americans, 


COLONIAL HISTORY, 


6 l 


the tax on tea exasperated them; hostilities were 
commenced, the Declaration of Independence was 
put forth, the war ensued, and the thirteen British 
colonies became an independent republic. 

The surrender of Cornwallis upon the plains 
of Yorktown occasioned the resignation of Lord 
North, and an entire change in the British min¬ 
istry. Yet it was more than a year before terms 
of peace could be agreed upon, and two years 
before the definitive treaty was signed. 

The First Continental Congress. — Sept. 5, 
1774, on the recommendation of Massachusetts, 
a Continental Congress consisting of delegates 
from twelve colonies assembled in Philadelphia. 
The youngest colony, Georgia,. was not repre¬ 
sented. This gathering came to be known as 
the First Continental Congress. Many distin¬ 
guished men were members of it, such as John 
Adams and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, 
Roger Sherman of Connecticut, John Jay of New 
York, Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, 
Patrick Henry, and George Washington of Vir¬ 
ginia. Peyton Randolph was chosen president. 
The Congress adopted the following resolution: 
“ That in determining questions in this Congress, 
each colony or province shall have one vote; the 
Congress not being possessed of, or at present 
able to procure, proper materials to ascertain the 
importance of each colony.” 


62 


REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 


The adoption of this rule proved to be a mat¬ 
ter of great importance subsequently, inasmuch 
as it continued in force through the entire Revo¬ 
lutionary War, and until the Federal Constitu¬ 
tion went into effect in 1789. 

The Congress drew up four papers, — an ad¬ 
dress to the king, another to the people of Great 
Britain, a third to the inhabitants of the colonies, 
and a fourth to the people of the province of 
Canada. They recommended that another Con¬ 
gress be called for the tenth of the following 
May, in case the grievances complained of were 
not previously redressed. No good results were 
obtained from these addresses to Great Britain, 
although several British statesmen, including 
Lord Chatham, spoke of them in terms of high¬ 
est admiration. 

Section III.—The Revolution. 

Second Continental Congress. — In accord¬ 
ance with the vote of the First Congress, the 
Second Continental Congress assembled at Phil¬ 
adelphia on the loth of May, 1775. This Con¬ 
gress continued in session until March, 1781, and 
after that date it had annual sessions till the 
Federal Constitution went into effect in 1789. 
This Second Continental Congress was in reality 
the national government through the Revolu- 











































































































































































































































































































































































































































REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY, 


63 


tionary War. It appointed Washington as com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the army of the United Colo¬ 
nies; it adopted the Declaration of Independence; 
it assumed the power to carry forward all neces¬ 
sary measures for the defence of the country; it 
created a continental currency; it issued bills of 
credit; it established a treasury department and 
a general system of post-offices. It recommended 
that the several colonies should establish for them¬ 
selves such forms of government as promised best 
to secure good order during the continuance of 
the controversy with Great Britain. 

Articles of Confederation. — No sooner had 
independence been determined upon than it be¬ 
came obvious that the states would need some 
written articles which should bind them together 
and give proper authority to the Congress. A 
committee was therefore appointed to prepare 
“ Articles of Confederation.” These Articles were 
agreed upon by Congress on the 15 th of Novem¬ 
ber, 1777. They were to go into operation when 
ratified by all the states. Eleven states ratified 
them in the year 1778, Delaware in 1779, and 
Maryland March i, 1781, at which time they went 
into effect. But this was nearly five years after 
the Declaration of Independence. During all 
this time the Continental Congress constituted 
the national government, and had made the treaty 


64 


REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 


between the United States and France. The 
Articles of Confederation made but little differ¬ 
ence in the management of affairs. The Conti¬ 
nental Cono^ress went rio^ht on with its work in 
the same order as before, and about six months 
later the surrender of Cornwallis virtually closed 
the war. Prior to the adoption of these Articles 
the government had been revolutionary, the Con¬ 
gress governing by common consent of the peo¬ 
ple of the states. These Articles were the first 
attempt to draw the line between the powers of 
the national government and those to be exercised 
by the states severally. The tendency for state 
supremacy was strong. The colonies had been 
heretofore independent of each other, with only 
one common bond, — the common subjection to 
the mother country. It was the central govern¬ 
ment of Great Britain which had made arbitrary 
demands upon their rights and liberties. They 
were naturally timid of authority and fearful of 
centralized power. The Articles were therefore 
drawn up with the intention of leaving the largest 
possible powers with the several states, and of 
giving to the National Congress just as little 
power and authority as possible. They were “ as 
erroneous in theory as they were inefficient in 
practice.” The object aimed at by them was to 
confederate the several states together for general 


REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 65 

purposes of mutual assistance, especially in mat¬ 
ters of protection against foreign foes. 

Plan of the Confederation. — The Articles 
provided for one house of Congress composed of 
delegates from the several states. Each state was 
to pay its own delegates, and the voting on all 
questions was to be by states. 

Matters of war and peace, treaties and alliances, 
were left with the Congress. This body could 
decide disputes between states, had charge of all 
postal matters, and power to regulate the value 
of money; but an affirmative vote of two-thirds of 
all the states was necessary for any important 
action to be taken. There was no executive de¬ 
partment and no judiciary. Congress could ap¬ 
portion taxes among the states, but had no power 
to collect them. Each state could lay duties and 
imposts. Congress had not even power to en¬ 
force its own laws. It could borrow money, but 
could make no provision for its payment. It 
could appoint ambassadors, but could not defray 
the necessary expenses. It could declare war, 
but could not raise a single soldier. “ In short, 
it could declare everything, but do nothing.” 
The Congress ratified the treaty of peace be¬ 
tween the United States and Great Britain, but 
this treaty was violated by the states, and Con¬ 
gress was powerless to prevent such violations. 


66 


REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 


The Confederation was merely a league between 
the states, embodying the greatest weakness when 
considered as a national government. Wash¬ 
ington at an early day saw the difficulty and 
danger, and that a new constitution was the great 
problem of the time. Alexander Hamilton, one 
of the ablest statesmen of that day, as early as 
1780 sketched the outline of a system of govern¬ 
ment which he thought to be necessary, and 
which embodied most of the essential features of 
our present constitution. 

Federal Convention. — It had become entirely 
evident both to Congress and the people that the 
Confederation as a government was a failure. 
The states were issuing more and more paper 
money. Congress repudiated the national debt, 
and the states repudiated their debts. The coun¬ 
try was rapidly becoming bankrupt. There were 
but few manufacturing establishments in Amer¬ 
ica, and the coin of the country was constantly 
transferred to England in payment for vast quan¬ 
tities of manufactured goods sent over from that 
country to this. The several states were stripped 
of money. The credit of the states and of the 
Congress was gone, and the absolute collapse of 
the United States government was imminent. 

Washington wrote to a member of Congress, 
“You talk, my good sir, of employing influence 


REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 


67 


to appease the present tumults in Massachusetts. 
Influence is not government. Let us have a gov¬ 
ernment by which our lives, liberties, and proper¬ 
ties will be secure, or let us know the' worst at 
once.^’ 

Delegates from five states met in January, 1786, 
at Annapolis, Maryland, with reference to a uni¬ 
form system of commercial regulations. They 
reported to Congress their unanimous conviction 
that a general convention of delegates from the 
several states should be called to take such action 
as would render “ the Constitution of the Federal 
Government adequate to the exigencies of the 
Union.” On the 21st of February, 1787, Congress 
adopted the following resolution : — 

“ Resolved, That, in the opinion of Congress, 
it is expedient that, on the second Monday in 
May next, a convention of delegates, who shall 
have been appointed by the several States, be 
held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express pur 
pose of revising the Articles of Confederation, 
and reporting to Congress and the several legis¬ 
latures such alterations and provisions therein as 
shall, when agreed to in Congress and confirmed 
by the States, render the Federal Constitution 
adequate to the exigencies of government and 
the preservation of the Union.” 

Delegates from all the states except Rhode 


68 


REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 


Island met at Philadelphia, Monday, May 14th, 
1787. On the 25th, George Washington was 
unanimously elected President of the Convention. 
This Convention was without doubt the most 
celebrated gathering of able men ever seen in 
America. 

Among the thirty-nine members^ of the Con¬ 
vention who subscribed their names to the Con¬ 
stitution, five, viz., Sherman, Franklin, Robert 
Morris, Read, and Washington, were signers of 
the Declaration of Independence; Washington 
and Madison were afterwards Presidents ; Rut¬ 
ledge and Ellsworth became Chief Justices; 
Gerry was Vice-President, and Hamilton, Secre¬ 
tary of the Treasury; Livingston had been eleven 
times elected governor of his state ; Wilson was 
famed in four universities and was esteemed the 
greatest constitutional lawyer of the Convention ; 
and Dr. Franklin, then more than eighty years of 
age and very near the grave, rounded out his full 
life as a philosopher, statesman, diplomatist, by 
giving to his country at this her most critical 
period the great benefit of his own political expe¬ 
rience. All of these men had been “ identified 
with the heroic and wise councils of the Revo¬ 
lution.” 

The Convention had been called “for the sole 
and express purpose of revising the Articles of 


REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 


69 


Confederation.” It soon, however, became evi¬ 
dent that the only way of rendering this instru¬ 
ment “ adequate to the exigencies of government 
and the preservation of the Union ” was to throw 
it entirely away and frame a completely new docu¬ 
ment. At the very beginning of their discus¬ 
sions great differences of opinion were manifest. 
The members were generally divided into two 
classes, one favoring a strong national govern¬ 
ment, and the other opposed to anything which 
would tend to weaken state sovereignty or impair 
in any degree what they considered as state rights. 
Here then was the origin of the two great polit¬ 
ical parties, which have divided the American 
people from that day to this, — the states rights 
party and the national or federal party. 

But there were other questions of no small dif¬ 
ficulty which they were also obliged to meet at 
the outset: such as the diverse interests and jeal¬ 
ousies of large and small states, of free and slave 
states, of states agricultural and commercial; and 
should the states have equal power in the national 
government, or should that power be proportional 
to the population of the several states. 

Washington almost despaired, Franklin was 
seriously alarmed; but influenced by a spirit of 
mutual forbearance and concessions, various com¬ 
promises were proposed and agreed to concerning 


70 


REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 


slavery, and especially in providing for an equal¬ 
ity of the states in the Senate, and representation 
by population in the House. The present Con¬ 
stitution of the United States was agreed to by 
the convention, and received the signatures of 
members from all the participating states. This 
result was reached only by the most consummate 
wisdom, the most lofty patriotism, and such a 
degree of skill and ability as has seldom, if ever, 
elsewhere been witnessed in any assemblage of 
men. Washington said, “ It appears to me little 
short of a miracle.” 

The Constitution was finally agreed to by all 
the states present on the 15th of September, 1787. 
This was on Saturday. On the following Mon¬ 
day it was signed by the members, and submitted 
to the Congress. The votes throughout the whole 
time of the Convention had been by states, as in 
the Continental Congress. The Congress trans¬ 
mitted the new Constitution to each state, recom¬ 
mending its ratification. Although the Articles 
of Confederation provided that no change should 
be made in them except by a vote of every state, 
yet the Constitution provided that the new gov¬ 
ernment should go into effect when ratified by 
conventions of the people of nine states. 

For a long time it was uncertain whether the 
Constitution would be adopted or rejected. Most 


REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 


71 


of the smaller states were in its favor. Its adop¬ 
tion was closely contested in New York, Massa¬ 
chusetts, and Virginia. In a little less than one 
year from its adoption by the Convention, it had 
been ratified by eleven of the states. Congress 
then took measures to put the new government 
into operation. Elections of presidential electors, 
and of senators and representatives in Congress, 
were held in January, 1789. The presidential 
electors voted for President on the first Wednes¬ 
day of February; and the first Wednesday of 
March was decided upon by Congress as the 
time when the new Constitution should go into 
effect. 

George Washington was unanimously elected 
President, and John Adams was elected Vice- 
President. On the 4th of March the senators 
and representatives assembled in New York, the 
new Constitution went into legal operation, and 
proceedings were commenced under it. It was 
not, however, until the first day of April that a 
quorum of members in both houses was obtained, 
and on that day Congress began the transaction 
of business. Washington took the oath of office, 
and delivered his inaugural address, on Thurs¬ 
day, April 30th. On May ist John Adams took 
his seat as president of the Senate. North Caro¬ 
lina ratified the Constitution in November, 17^95 
and Rhode Island, in May, 1790. 


72 


REVOLUTIOJSrARY HISTORY. 


Dates of Ratification. — The following are the 
dates of the ratification of the Constitution by 
each of the thirteen original states: 

(1) Delaware, Dec. 7, 1787. 

(2) Pennsylvania, Dec. 12, 1787. 

(3) New Jersey, Dec. 18, 1787. 

(4) Georgia, Jan. 2, 1788. 

(5) Connecticut, Jan. 9, 1788. 

(6) Massachusetts, Feb. 6, 1788. 

(7) Maryland, April 28, 1788. 

(8) South Carolina, May 23, 1788. 

(9) New Hampshire, June 21, 1788. 

(10) Virginia, June 26, 1788. 

(11) New York, July 26, 1788. 

(12) North Carolina, Nov. 21, 1789. 

(13) Rhode Island, May 29, 1790. 

Thus was put into operation the Constitution 
of the United States of America, which Glad¬ 
stone, who is considered by many the greatest 
statesman of this age, has pronounced to be “the 
most wonderful work ever struck off at a given 
time by the brain and purpose of man.” 

It may truly be said that it embodies profound 
political wisdom and far-reaching statesmanship, 
while it jealously guards the rights of the people, 
providing various checks and safeguards against 
unjust, unwise, or dangerous legislation; and yet 
“ in its words it is plain and intelligible, and is 


REVOLUT/OJVARV HISTORY. 


73 


meant for the homebred, unsophisticated under¬ 
standings of our fellow-citizens.” 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. What was the ‘‘ Contest of the Kings ”? 

2. Where was the first permanent Spanish settlement in 
the United States? 

3. Where the first permanent English settlement? 

4. Draw a map of North America, showing Spanish, 
French, and English control at the middle of the eighteenth 
century. 

5. Draw a map showing the English and Spanish territory 
after 1763. 

6. Describe the battle of Quebec. 

7. What was the ^‘Supreme Moment in American History,” 
and why so called ? 

8. First Continental Congress. 

9. What important rule did it adopt? 

10. When did the Second Continental Congress convene? 

11. Name the essential points of weakness in the Articles of 
Confederation. 

12. Describe the Federal Convention. 

13. When did the Convention submit the Constitution to 
Congress? 

14. When did the Constitution go into effect? 



BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTM ENT. - THE CONGRESS. 


THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

The Number of Representatives, j Territorial Delegates. 

Qualifications. j Officers. 

Impeachments. 

THE SENATE. 

Senators, how chosen. Presiding Officer. 

Qualifications. Officers of the Senate. 

The Trial of Impeachments. 

PROVISIONS RELATING TO BOTH HOUSES. 

Sessions of Congress. 

Salaries of Senators and Representatives. 


THE POWERS OF CONGRESS. 


Duties on Imports. 

Naturalization. 

Bankruptcies. 


Coin Money. 

Weights and Measures. 
The “Sweeping Clause.” 


RESTRICTIONS UPON THE NAFIONAL GOVERNMENT. 


74 





PART SECOND. 


THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section I. —^The Congress. 

The Preamble. — The purpose of the Consti¬ 
tution of the United States is fully stated in the 
preamble. It is as follows: — 

1. To form a more perfect union. 

2. To establish justice. 

3. To insure domestic tranquillity. 

4. To provide for the common defence. 

5. To promote the general welfare. 

6. To secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 

and our posterity. 

The National Element of Slow Growth.— 

The beginning of the nation was July 4th, 1776. 
During the Revolution and under the Articles 
of Confederation, great diversities prevailed among 
the people as to the proper limits of state rights 
and the proper extent of the Federal power. 
The weakness of the Articles of Confederation 


75 


76 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

rendered it very clear that the national govern¬ 
ment must have conferred upon it more extended 
powers. The Constitution was a compromise in 
many respects between divergent parties, but on 
the question of national supremacy there was no 
compromise. The Articles of Confederation con¬ 
stituted an agreement or bond between the several 
states which were specified by name. The Con¬ 
stitution, on the other hand, was not a league of 
states, but a fundamental law adopted by the 
people of the whole country. Its first sentence, 
called the preamble, is especially significant: — 

“We, the people of the United States, in order to form 
a more perfect union, establish justice, insure do¬ 
mestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the bless¬ 
ings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United 
States of America.” 


Section II.—The House of Representatives. 

By thp Constitution all legislative powers for 
the national government are vested in a Congress 
of the United States, which consists of two 
houses, the Senate and the House of Representa¬ 
tives. As has already been stated, the people 
were influenced largely in organizing their new 
government by the plans and methods which they 


% 




1 


EASTERN DOOR 


I 



J 

X 

X 

w 

H 


\ 


OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON 
























































































1 







THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 77 

had been familiar with in the mother country. 
Hence it was simply natural that following the 
example of the British Parliament, which con¬ 
sisted of the House of Lords and the House of 
Commons, two separate houses should here be 
provided for. 

During the revolutionary government and 
under the Articles of Confederation, the Conti¬ 
nental Congress had consisted of but one house. 
The states, however, in forming constitutions for 
themselves had, without exception, introduced 
the plan of two houses. 

The House of Representatives. — 

“The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
members chosen every second year by the people 
of the several states.” 

Under the Confederation the members of Con¬ 
gress were chosen annually, and in such manner 
as the legislature of each state should authorize. 
The Constitution provides that representatives 
shall serve for two years, and that they shall be 
elected by “ the people.” Each state prescribes by 
law how the members of the state legislature shall 
be elected, and who shall have power to vote for 
such members. The Constitution prescribes that 
any one who can vote for a m.ember of the House 
of Representatives in that state, can vote for a 
member of the National House of Representatives. 


78 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


Qualifications. — Three qualifications, and only 
three, are required for a representative in Congress. 

1. He must be at least twenty-five years of age. 

2. He must have been seven years a citizen of the 

United States. 

3. He must, when elected, be an inhabitant of that 

state in which he shall be chosen. 

The Number of Representatives. — Every ten 
years after the census returns have been made. 
Congress provides by law for the number of 
representatives for the next ten years which each 
state shall be entitled to. It first determines how 
many members there shall be in the House, and 
it then apportions these members according to 
the population of the several states. The number 
of representatives for the different decades and 
the number of inhabitants for one representative 


during the last one 
follows: — 

hundred 

years have 

Period. 

No. of 

Ratio of 

Members. 

Population. 

1789-1793 

65 

— 

1793-1803 

105 

33,000 

' 1803-1813 

141 

33,000 

1813-1823 

181 

35 >ooo 

1823-1833 

212 

40,000 

1833-1843 

240 

47,700 

1843-1853 

223 

70,680 

1853-1863 

234 

93,500 

1863-1873 

241 

127,941 

1873-1883 

292 

130,533 

1883-1*893 

325 

151,911 

1893-1903 

356 

173,902 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 79 

Sometimes the actual number of representa¬ 
tives has been greater than the number here given 
on account of the admission of new states. By 
the above table, it will be observed that at the 
present time the required number of inhabitants 
for one representative is 173,902, but every small 
state is entitled to one representative even if its 
population is less than the above number. 

Territorial Delegates. — Each organized ter¬ 
ritory is allowed by law of Congress to send one 
delegate to the House. He may participate in 
the discussions, but he is not allowed to vote. 

In the fifty-first Congress (1890), Washington, 
Montana, Dakota, Idaho, and Wyoming having 
been admitted as states, and Oklahoma organized 
as a territory, there were four territorial dele¬ 
gates. 

Officers.— 

‘‘The House of Representatives shall choose their 
Speaker and other officers.” 

The Speaker is the presiding officer of the 
House. The Speaker is chosen from the mem¬ 
bers of the House and can vote on every question 
like any other member. The other officers of the 
House are: — 

1. Clerk. 3. Door-keeper. 

2. Sergeant-at-arms. 4. Postmaster. 

5. Chaplain. 


So 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


At the organization of each new Congress, the 
clerk of the preceding House presides till a 
Speaker is chosen. 

Impeachment. — The House of Representa¬ 
tives has the sole power to impeach civil officers 
of the United States. When an officer is im¬ 
peached, the House brings impeachment, specify¬ 
ing the charges against him, before the Senate. 
The method of impeachment is as follows: the 
House appoints a committee to inquire into the 
conduct of the officer who has been charged with 
improper acts. If this committee reports in favor 
of impeachment, the House votes upon the ques¬ 
tion. If the majority vote that the officer shall 
be impeached, articles are prepared specifying the 
charges, and action is taken upon each article. 
Then a committee is appointed to conduct the 
prosecution before the Senate. It is noticeable 
that but few officers have ever been subject to im¬ 
peachment. Indeed, in one hundred years but 
seven cases of impeachment have occurred. They 
are as follows: — 

1. William Blount, Senator. 1799. Acquitted. 

2. John Pickering, Judge. 1803. Convicted and 

removed from office. 

3. Samuel Chase, Judge. 1804. Acquitted. 

4. James H. Peck, Judge. 1830. Acquitted. 

5. West H. Humphreys, Judge. 1862. Convicted 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


8 


and disqualified from holding any office of 
honor, trust, or profit under the United States. 

6. Andrew Johnson, President. 1868. Acquitted. 

7. W. W. Belknap, Secretary of War. 1876. Ac¬ 

quitted. 

Thus it will be seen that of these seven cases 
of impeachment there have been only two con¬ 
victions, one of whom was simply removed from 
office, and the other was disqualified from holding 
office. 

Section III. —The Senate. 

The Senate consists of two members from each 
state. The peculiar composition of the Senate 
was occasioned by the natural jealousy which ex¬ 
isted between the states. It has already been 
seen that the several colonies became states, pre¬ 
serving their original boundaries. During the 
entire time of the Continental Congress all votes 
were taken by states, each state having but one 
vote. When the convention was framing the 
Constitution, the jealousy between the small 
states and the larger was strongly apparent. The 
larger states very naturally felt that they should 
have a stronger voice in legislative matters than 
the smaller states. On the other hand, the 
smaller states were unwilling to yield the equal 
power which had hitherto been accorded to them. 


82 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


A compromise was effected by which the House 
of Representatives should be constituted upon a 
basis of population, and in the Senate the equality 
of the states should be retained. The Constitu¬ 
tion provides that, — 

“The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
of two senators from each state, chosen by the leg¬ 
islature thereto for six years; and each senator 
shall have one vote.” 

This clause contains four distinct provisions: — 

1. There shall be two senators from each state. 

2. They shall be chosen by the legislature of the 

state. 

3. They shall be chosen for the term of six years 

4. Each senator shall have one vote. 

Senators: how chosen. — In regard to the 
mode in which the legislatures are to choose the 
senators, the Constitution is silent. 

By an act of Congress passed July 25, 1866, it 
is provided that when the legislature of any state 
is to elect a senator in Congress, it shall proceed 
to the election of such senator on the second 
Tuesday after the organization of the legislature, 
and the election shall be conducted as follows : — 

Each house shall, by a viva voce vote, name a 
person for senator, and the name of the person 
who receives a majority vote shall be entered in 



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THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 83 

the journal of the house. If the house fails to 
give such a majority to any person, that fact shall 
be entered on the journal. On the next day at 
twelve o’clock the members of the two houses 
shall convene in joint assembly, and the journal 
of each house shall be read, and if the same per¬ 
son has received a majority of all the votes in 
each house, he shall be declared fully elected 
senator. If no one has such a majority, the joint 
assembly shall choose, by a viva voce vote of each 
member present, a person for senator. The per¬ 
son having a majority of all the votes of the joint 
assembly shall be declared elected. If there is 
no election that day, the joint assembly shall 
meet at twelve o’clock on each succeeding day, 
and shall take at least one vote each day until 
a senator is elected. 

The senators are divided into three classes, 
and, as they are chosen for six years, one-third 
of the whole number is chosen every second 
year. The representatives are chosen for two 
years, which is the length of time covered by onfe 
Congress. Whenever a new Congress convenes, 
one-third of the senators are either new members, 
or have been re-elected for a new term. It will 
be observed, that as one-third of the senators go 
out of office every two years, the Senate is a 
continuous body; while the members of the 


84 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


House are all swept off at once, and a new elec¬ 
tion brings in a new House every second year. 

Qualifications. — The qualifications of the 
senator are three : — 

1. He must be at least thirty years of age. 

2. He must have been nine years a citizen of the 

United States. 

3. He must, when elected, be an inhabitant of the 

state in which he is chosen. 

Presiding Officer. — It will be seen farther on, 
that the executive officer of the United States is 
the President. The Vice-President is chosen for 
the purpose of taking the place of the President 
when a vacancy in that office occurs; but unless 
some other duties were placed upon him, the 
Vice-President would have nothing to do so long 
as the President held his office; hence the con¬ 
vention determined to make him presiding officer 
of the Senate, which is done in the following 
clause: — 

“The Vice-President of the United States shall be 
president of the Senate, but shall have no vote 
unless they be equally divided.” 

The speaker of the House is a member of the 
House; but as the equality of the states is pre¬ 
served in the Senate, it would seem best to select 
the presiding officer from outside that body. 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 85 

The Vice-President would be likely to be less 
partial as a presiding officer than a senator would 
be, since he is elected by the whole country and 
not by a single state. 

Officers of the Senate. —The Senate shall 
choose their officers, and also a President pro 
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or 
when he shall exercise the office of President of 
the United States. The officers of the Senate 
are : — 


1. The Secretary. 4. Sergeant-at-arms. 

2. Chief Clerk. 5. Door-keeper. 

3. Executive Clerk. 6. Chaplain. 

The Trial of Impeachments. — When the 
Senate is to try an impeachment, it sits as a 
court, and every senator must be on oath or 
affirmation. 

“ When the President of the United States is tried the 
chief-justice shall preside, and no person shall be 
convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of 
the members present. 

“Ji-idgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend 
further than to removal from office, and disqualifi¬ 
cation to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, 
or profit under the United States; but the party 
convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject 
to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, ac¬ 
cording to law.” 


86 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


Section IV. — Provisions relating to Both 
Houses of Congress. 

Sessions of Congress. — 

“The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
year and such meeting shall be on the first Monday 
in December, unless they shall by law appoint a 
different day.” 

Although the new Congress comes into exist¬ 
ence on the fourth of March in each odd year, 
yet the first regular session will begin on the first 
Monday of December following. This first ses¬ 
sion may hold through an entire year, but if the 
business be completed Congress may adjourn at 
any time during the year. The second regular 
session begins on the first Monday of December 
following, and must close by the fourth of the 
next March, at which time the new Congress 
comes into existence. 

“Each house is the judge of the elections, returns and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of 
each shall constitute a quorum to do business.” 

Each house also determines,— 

“The rules of its proceedings, punishes its members for 
disorderly behavior and with the concurrence of 
two-thirds may expel a member.” 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 8/ 

Salary of Senators and Representatives. — 

The senators and representatives are paid out of 
the treasury of the United States. Congress has, 
from time to time, increased the compensation of 
its members from six dollars a day in the House, 
and seven dollars a day in the Senate, until, by 
a law passed in 1874, the compensation of each 
representative and each senator was fixed at five 
thousand dollars per annum. The pay of the 
Speaker of the House and of the Vice-President, 
or if there is none, the President of the Senate 
pro tempore, is eight thousand dollars per annum. 
In addition to his salary every member of either 
house is allowed mileage, in coming and going 
between his home and Congress, twenty cents 
per mile for every mile of travel by the usual 
route. 

All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House 
of Representatives; but the Senate may propose 
or concur with amendments as on other bills.” 

This clause is adopted from the custom of the 
British Parliament. There, revenue bills must 
originate in the House of Commons. There is 
very little necessity in our present circumstances 
for this restriction. Raising revenue is under¬ 
stood to be confined to levying taxes. It is the 
custom for the Senate to originate bills which 


88 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


imply the raising of money, or which will require 
the raising of money, as for example, bills to estab¬ 
lish post-ofhces, the mint, to regulate the sale of 
public land, etc. 

Section V.—The Powers of Congress. 

We come now to the consideration of the 
powers vested by the Constitution in the Con¬ 
gress. It should be remembered that when the 
Constitution was framed, the controversy was 
sharp and spirited between those who favored be¬ 
stowing large powers upon the national govern¬ 
ment, and those who, fearing that evils would 
result from such a course, were strenuous in their 
belief that large powers should be retained by the 
governments and the people of the several states. 
In consequence of this controversy, the Constitu¬ 
tion defines somewhat minutely special subjects 
upon which Congress shall have power to legis¬ 
late. It does not, however, contain an exhaustive 
enumeration of the powers of Congress, and does 
not mean that Cono^ress shall not legislate on 
any subjects not here enumerated. This is evi¬ 
dent from the fact that power is given to Con¬ 
gress 

“To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers 
and all other powers vested by this Constitution in 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 89 

the government of the United States, or in any de¬ 
partment, or officer thereof.” 

Elsewhere, the Constitution requires of Congress 
the exercise of powers not particularly mentioned ; 
and in different places it implies that Congress 
must do certain things, which are not expressly 
provided for in the section specifying its particu¬ 
lar powers. 

The Constitution expressly enumerates the fol¬ 
lowing powers: — 

The Congress has power 

“To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises 
to pay the debts and provide for the common de¬ 
fence and general welfare of the United States; 
but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States.” 

This gives to Congress the power to levy taxes 
for three purposes: — 

1. To pay the public debt. 

2. To provide for the common defence. 

3. To provide for the general welfare. 

The general government may levy a tax in 
three ways : — 

1. A direct tax upon persons, which may be either 
a poll tax or a property tax. 

2. An indirect tax upon goods imported into the 
country from abroad. 


90 THE LEGISLAT/VE DEPARTMENT. 

3. An indirect tax upon goods manufactured and 
used here. 

Previous to the civil war a direct tax had been 
laid but four times — in 1798, 1813, 1815, 1816. 
These laxes were levied upon lands, houses, and 
slaves. To pay the debt incurred in the civil 
war, direct taxes were again levied in 1861 and 
subsequently. 

Duties on Imports. — This government, during 
most of its existence, has been committed to the 
policy of laying duties on goods manufactured 
abroad and imported into this country. These 
duties on imports are of two kinds: — 

I. Specific duties. 2. Ad valorem duties. 

A specific duty is a tax levied on goods by 
weight, measure, or bulk; as, for example, a duty 
of fifty cents a yard on broadcloth, one dollar a 
ton on iron, or twenty cents a gallon on molasses. 

An ad valorein duty is levied according to the 
value or cost of the goods, as, ten per cent on 
iron, fifty per cent on the cost of brandy. These 
duties are collected under the direction of the 
treasury department. 

Naturalization. — Another power committed 
to Congress is, “to establish a uniform rule of 
naturalization.” 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 91 

Naturalization is an act by which a foreigner, 
called an alien, becomes a citizen of the United 
States. Under the confederation, each state 
passed laws naturalizing aliens. 

It is to be noticed that there has been a con¬ 
stant growth of national power. At first the 
several states were unwilling t^^ive up their 
power to the federal government.^ Through the 
whole history of the nation, the dividing line 
between political parties has been upon this prin¬ 
ciple. One party has favored large state rights, 
and a minimum national power. The other party 
has advocated a strong national power. Here is 
an illustration: The laws upon the subject of 
naturalization, and the qualifications requisite in 
the different states were so various, that confusion 
and controversy resulted. To remedy these evils 
the Constitution gives Congress full power over 
the subject of naturalization, so that the laws 
shall be uniform throughout all the states. An 
alien coming to this country from a foreign land 
must make application for citizenship; this is 
called his “ declaration of intention.” This decla¬ 
ration must be made at least two years before he 
can receive his naturalization papers. In this 
declaration he must declare on oath or affirma¬ 
tion that it is his intention to become a citizen of 
the United States, and to renounce all allegiance 


92 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT^ 


to the government of which he is at the time or 
has been a subject. 

Before he can receive his naturalization papers 
he must have resided in this country at least five 
years. There is one exception to this law. By 
an act passed in 1862, a soldier of the age of 
twenty-one years and upward, regularly discharged 
from the army of the United States, may be ad¬ 
mitted to citizenship without a previous declara¬ 
tion of intention and with a single year’s residence. 
The children of a naturalized foreigner, who are 
under twenty-one years of age, residing in this 
country at the time the father received his 
naturalization papers, are considered citizens. 
The children of a citizen, who are born abroad, 
are citizens, of the United States. 

When foreign territory has been incorporated 
into the Union, by treaty or otherwise. Congress 
has exercised the power of granting naturalization 
without previous residence. When territory is 
annexed to this country, the President and Senate 
have naturalized the inhabitants of such territory 
en masse. 

Bankruptcies. — The Congress also has power 
to make “ uniform laws on the subject of bank¬ 
ruptcies throughout the United States.” 

In England, the term bankrupt is generally 
limited to traders who fail to pay their debts. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


93 


while the word insolvent was applied to those not 
paying their debts who were not engaged in trade. 
The general usage, however, in the United States, 
has been to make the words bankrupt and msol- 
synonymous. In reality, a person is insolvent 
when he cannot pay his debts. He becomes a 
bankrupt by legal proceedings under a bankrupt 
law. Congress has exercised this power to pass 
uniform laws on bankruptcies at three different 
times. The first bankrupt law was passed in 
1800, and repealed three years later. The second 
was passed in 1841, and repealed within two 
years. The third was in effect from 1867 to 
1878. No national bankrupt laws are in force 
now. It is held that if Congress does not exer¬ 
cise its power to pass a bankrupt law, the several 
states can do so. The state laws are usually 
termed insolvent laws. 

Coin Money. — The Congress has power, — 

“To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of 
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and 
measures.” 

An Act of Congress passed in 1873 provided 
for the following coins: — 

I. Gold; The dollar piece; the two-dollar-and-a-half 
piece, or quarter-eagle; the three-dollar piece; the five- 
dollar piece, or half-eagle ; the ten-dollar piece, or eagle ; 
and the twenty-dollar piece, or double-eagle. 


94 the legislative department 

2. Silver: The dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and 
dime. 

3. The “ minor coins ” are the five-cent piece and 
three-cent piece and one-cent piece. Two-cent pieces 
are not now coined. 

Weights and Measures. — This clause gives 
to Congress power “ to fix the standard of 
weights and measures.” It is proper that the 
standard of weights and measures should be con¬ 
nected with money. The price or value of any 
commodity is fixed in money terms; but this 
commodity is either weighed or measured, and, 
therefore, the power which coins the money 
should fix the standard of weights and measures. 
Our weights and our measures have come to us 
through the ancient usages of Great Britain. It 
appears strange that the world should not have 
earlier established a uniform system. That twelve 
inches should make a foot, and three feet a yard, 
and that five and a half of this denomination 
should make a rod, and that forty of this is called 
a furlong, and that eight furlongs are a mile, is 
not complimentary to the civilization of our 
ancestors. 

We made a great gain when this government 
established our coins on the decimal system: ten 
cents make a dime, and ten dimes a dollar, and 
ten dollars an eagle. It will be a greater gain 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 95 

when the metric system for all weights and meas¬ 
ures shall have come into universal use. The 
metric system has been legalized by an act of 
Congress ; but it is to be feared that the day is 
somewhat distant when it shall have come into 
general use in this country. 

Various Powers. — Congress has power, — 

‘‘To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 
securities and current coin of the United States. 
“To establish post-offices and post-roads.” 

Congress has power to grant copy rights to 
authors and patent rights to inventors. 

“To define and punish piracies and felonies committed 
on the high seas, and offences against the law of 
nations. 

“To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
make rules concerning captures on land and water. 
“To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of 
money to that use shall be for a longer term than 
two years. 

“To make rules for the government and regulation of 
the land and naval forces.” 

‘‘The Sweeping Clause.’^ —The final clause, 
enumerating the powers conferred by the Con¬ 
stitution upon Congress, reads as follows: — 

“ To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. 


96 


THE LEGISLATIVE TETAETALENT. 


and all other powers vested by this Constitution in 
the government of the United States, or in any de¬ 
partment or officer thereof.” 

This clause is what Patrick Henry called “ the 
sweeping clause,” by which, as he thought. Con¬ 
gress was to overthrow the states. Great op¬ 
position to this clause was manifested by the 
state-rights party during the time in which the 
Constitution was under discussion by the people 
and by state conventions prior to its adoption. 

Nothing is plainer than that the government 
has under this Constitution full national powers, 
and is limited only by the restrictions imposed by 
the Constitution itself. Judge Story says: “It 
would be almost impracticable, if it were not use¬ 
less, to enumerate the various instances in which 
Congress, in the progress of the government, has 
made use of incidental and implied means to ex¬ 
ecute its powers. They are almost infinitely 
varied in their ramifications and details.” 

Chief-Justice Marshall says: “A power vested 
carries with it all those incidental powers which 
are necessary to its complete and efficient execu¬ 
tion.” 

This principle has been acted upon by the 
general government from 1789 to the present 
day. 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


97 


Section VI. — Restrictions upon the National 
Government. 

The Constitution provides, that the slave trade 
could be prohibited by the Congress after the 
year 1808. At that time a law of Congress went 
into effect imposing heavy penalties upon persons 
engaged in the slave trade. In 1820 the slave 
trade was declared to be “ piracy,” to be punished 
with death. 

Since the late civil war, our nation has happily 
been freed from the incubus of human slavery. 

The Constitution expressly prohibits any ex 
post facto law and any bill of attainder. 

It is also provided that direct taxes levied by 
the national government shall be in proportion 
to the population, and that no title of nobility 
shall be granted by the United States, and also 
that “No money shall be drawn from the treasury 
but in consequence of appropriations made by 
law.” 

Restrictions upon the States. 

It may also be stated just here that the Consti¬ 
tution places the following restrictions upon the 
several states: — 

I. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or 
confederation. 


THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


2. Grant letters of marque and reprisal. 

3. Coin money. 

4. Emit bills of credit. 

5. Make anything but gold and silver coin a tender 
in payment of debts. 

6. Pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or 
law impairing the obligation of contracts. 

7. Or grant any title of nobility. 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. What are the purposes of the Constitution? 

2. Describe the growth of the national element. 

3. What advantages from having two houses of Congress. 

4. How are the representatives to Congress chosen? 

5. Qualifications. 

6. Number of representatives. 

7. Territorial delegates — how many? What for ? 

8. Officers of the House — what are they and how chosen? 

9. Who is liable to impeachment, and how is impeach- 
• ment brought about ? 

10. Senators — how chosen? 

11. Qualifications of senators. 

12. Presiding officer in Senate and other officers. 

13. The trial of impeachments — how carried on? 

14. What is meant by a “ session ” of Congress? 

15. What is meant by a “ Congress ”? 

16. Are the salaries of senators and members of Congress 
the same ? Why should they be ? 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 


99 


17. Tell us all about ‘‘national taxes.” 

18. Meaning of ad valorem and specific. 

19. Describe the process for becoming naturalized. 

20. Discriminate the meaning of the words “ bankrupt ” 
and “ insolvent.” 

21. What was Patrick Henry’s objection to the “sweeping 
clause ” ? 

22. Name some restrictions upon Congress. Where are 
they found in the Constitution ? Read in full the section. 

23. Name the restrictions here placed upon the several 
states. What section and article in the Constitution is this ? 



BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

The President. 1 The Vice-President. 

How Elected. 


PRESIDENTIAL 

How many. 

How elected. 

When elected. 


ELECTORS. 

Vote when. 

Votes counted when. 
President inaugurated when. 


President’s Qualifications. Presidential Succession. 

President’s Duties. Executive Departments. 


lOO 





CHAPTER II. 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

In the natural order of things, we have con¬ 
sidered, first the legislative department of our 
national government. We now proceed to exam¬ 
ine the second great department, the executive 
power. This is treated of under the second article 
of the Constitution which begins as follows: — 

“ The executive power shall be vested in a President of 
the United States of America. He shall hold his 
office during the term of four years, and, together 
with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, 
be elected as follows : ” 

By this clause we observe that, — 

1. The executive power is vested in one person. 

2. He is elected for the term of four years. 

3. The Vice-President is elected for the same term. 

The following is the list of the Presidents, with 
their terms of office : — 

1. George Washington, two terms, 1789 to 1797. 

2. John Adams, one term, 1797 to 1801. 

3. Thomas Jefferson, two terms, 1801 to 1809. 

4. James Madison, two terms, 1809 to 1817. 

lOI 



102 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


5. James Monroe, two terms, 1817 to 1825. 

6. John Quincy Adams, one term, 1825 to 1829. 

7. Andrew Jackson, two terms, 1829 to 1837. 

8. Martin Van Buren, one term, 1837 to 1841. 

9. William Henry Harrison, one month, 1841. 

10. John Tyler, three years and eleven months, 1841 

to- 1845. 

11. James K. Polk, one term, 1845 to 1849. 

12. Zachary Taylor, one year and four months, 1849 

to 1850. 

13. Millard Fillmore, two years and eight months, 

1850 to 1853. 

14. Franklin Pierce, one term, 1853 to 1857. 

15. James Buchanan, one term, 1857 to 1861. 

16. Abraham Lincoln, four years and one month, 

1861 to 1865. 

17. Andrew Johnson, three years and eleven months, 

1865 to 1869. 

18. Ulysses S. Grant, two terms, 1869 to 1877. 

19. Rutherford B, Hayes, one term, 1877 to 1881. 

20. James A. Garfield, four months, 1881. 

21. Chester A. Arthur, three years and eight months, 

1881 to 1885. 

22. Grover Cleveland, one term, from 1885 to 1889. 

23. Benjamin Harrison, from 1889 to — 

It will be seen by the above table that we have 
had twenty-two Presidents in one hundred years. 
Of these, seven have been elected for a second 
term. Four Vice-Presidents have succeeded to 
the presidency by the death of the President. 











































































































































































































































































































































































































THE EXECUTfVE DEPARTMENT. 103 

Presidential Electors. — The Constitution 

says that,— 

“ Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legis¬ 
lature thereof may direct, a number of electors 
equal to the whole number of senators and repre¬ 
sentatives to which the state may be entitled in the 
Congress; but no senator or representative, or per¬ 
son holding an office of trust or profit under the 
United States, shall be appointed an elector.” 

The several points embodied in this clause are 
as follows : — 

1. The President is appointed by electors, and not 
by the immediate vote of the people. 

2. The number of electors in each state. 

3. Any person holding a United States office is 
prohibited from being an elector. 

It was thought by the framers of the Constitu¬ 
tion, that, if the direct choice of the President 
was taken from the people, and placed in the 
hands of electors chosen by the people, who would 
unquestionably be selected from the ablest and 
most trustworthy men of the nation, a wiser 
choice of President would be insured than if the 
people of the whole country were to vote directly 
for this officer. It was evidently the thought of 
the framers of the Constitution, that, after the 
electors had been appointed, they should meet 
and discuss the question and then determine for 


104 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


whom their votes should be cast. The result, 
however, has proved that the election of Presi¬ 
dent is not left in the hands of the electors, but 
is, in reality, determined by the people when they 
elect the presidential electors. 

According to the custom which now prevails, 
the electors are practically pledged beforehand to 
vote for a certain candidate, who has been pre¬ 
viously nominated in a national convention of a 
political party. The electors therefore exercise 
no discretion in their vote. 

Number of Electors. — The number of elect¬ 
ors is determined by the Constitution. 

1. In the first place, each state is entitled to 
two electors corresponding to the equality of the 
states in the Senate. 

2. In addition to these two, the number of 
electors to which each state is entitled, is fixed 
in accordance with the population of the state. 
We have seen that Congress determines once in 
ten years the number of representatives to which 
each state is entitled in the Congress. Each 
state is then entitled to as many electors as it 
has representatives in Congress. The whole 
number of electors therefore for each state is 
equal to the whole number of representatives 
and senators which that state sends to the Con¬ 
gress. 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 105 

Time of choosing Electors. — The day for 

choosing the electors was fixed by an act of Con¬ 
gress, passed in 1845, as the Tuesday next after 
the first Monday in INTovember. All the states 
choose their electors on the same day. The 
legislature of each state directs the manner in 
which these electors shall be elected. There 
have been heretofore four different modes of 
electing the electors: — 

1. By joint ballot of the state legislatures. 

2. By a concurrent vote of the two branches of the 
legislature. 

3. By the popular vote of the state on one joint ticket. 

4. By the people voting in districts. 

The method now adopted by all the states is 
that of the people of the whole state voting by 
general ticket. By this method the vote of no 
state is divided, but the entire state vote is 
counted for the electoral college as nominated by 
one party or another. 

Electors Vote. — In accordance with an act 
passed by Congress, February 3d, 1887, the elect¬ 
ors meet in their respective states on the second 
Monday in January, to give their votes for Presi¬ 
dent and Vice-President. 

The electors give separate votes for the Presi¬ 
dent and Vice-President by ballot. They then 
make three certificates of all the votes given. 


Io6 THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

These certificates they must sign and seal, and 
certify on each certificate that there is contained 
within a list of the votes of the electors of such a 
state (naming it), for President and Vice-Presi¬ 
dent. One of these certificates is delivered to 
the judge of the United States District Court for 
that district in which the electors are assembled. 
A second certificate is forwarded forthwith, by 
mail, to Washington, directed to the President 
of the Senate. The electors appoint a person as 
special messenger to take the third certificate, 
carry it to Washington and deliver it to the 
President of the Senate. This special messenger 
is paid a sum fixed by law, on the mileage princi¬ 
ple. The three certificates of the election of 
these electors are transmitted with the certificates 
of their votes. 

Votes Counted. — The votes for President 
and Vice-President are counted on the second 
Wednesday of February in the hall of the House 
of Representatives in presence of both houses of 
Congress, the President of the Senate presiding. 
On that day the Senate marches in a body from 
the senate chamber to the other wing of the 
Capitol, and enters the hall of the House, the 
members of the House standing to receive them. 
All being seated, the President of the Senate 
opens the certificates in the presence of the two 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 107 

houses, and hands them to the tellers, previously 
appointed by the two houses respectively, who 
count the votes, state by state, in alphabetical 
order, beginning with the letter A, and each vote, 
together with the aggregate vote, is declared by 
the presiding officer. This method gives dignity 
and insures fairness in the proceeding. 

Election by the House. — In case no person 
receives a majority of the votes cast by the elect¬ 
ors for President, the choice of a President is 
referred to the House of Representatives. The 
House must immediately proceed to the election 
of President, and the members are restricted in 
their votes to the three highest candidates in the 
vote by the electors. In thus voting for the 
President, the vote must be taken by states, the 
representatives from each state having one vote. 
The vote cannot be taken except a quorum shall 
be present, and this quorum is determined by the 
Constitution to be one or more representatives 
present from two-thirds of the states. It is pos¬ 
sible that the House might be so divided as to 
be unable to elect any one of these three highest 
candidates. The Constitution provides for this 
emergency. The House must continue voting 
until the fourth day of March, when the session 
and the Congress expires. In case they make no 
choice prior to that date, then the Constitution 


io8 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


provides, that “ The Vice-President shall act as 
President, as in the case of death, or other consti¬ 
tutional disability of the President.” 

Vice-President elected by the Senate. — If 

there is no election of Vice-President by the 
electors, the Senate, immediately after the vote has 
been counted, — that is, on the second Wednesday 
in February, — proceeds to choose a Vice-Presi¬ 
dent. There must be a quorum present for this 
purpose; and the Constitution fixes that quorum 
as two-thirds of the whole number of senators, 
and a majority of the whole number shall be 
necessary to a choice. The senators must choose 
the Vice-President from the two highest numbers 
on the list voted for by the electors. 

As the Vice-President may become President, 
the Constitution wisely provides that, — 

“No person constitutionally ineligible to the office 
of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President 
of the United States.” 

Qualifications. — The qualifications for Presi¬ 
dent are as follows : — 

1. He must be a native-born citizen. 

2. He must have attained to the age of thirty-five 
years. 

3. He must have been for fourteen years a resident 
within the United States. 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 109 

No other qualifications than these three are 
fixed by the Constitution. The qualifications for 
the Vice-President are the same as for the Presi¬ 
dent. 

Observe the qualifications requisite for repre¬ 
sentatives to Congress, for senators, and for the 
President and Vice-President. 

1. A representative must be twenty-five years of age ; 
a senator, thirty; and a President or Vice-President, 
thirty-five. 

2. A representative must have been a citizen of the 
United States seven years ; a senator, nine years; and 
a President or Vice-President must be native born. 

3. A representative must be an inhabitant of the 
state for which he is chosen ; a senator the same; and 
a President must have resided within the United 
States fourteen years. 

The Vice-President. — So long as the Presi¬ 
dent performs the duties of his office, the Vice- 
President has no connection with the executive 
department, but is merely President of the Senate. 
In the case of the removal, resignation, or inability 
of the President, the Vice-President becomes Pres¬ 
ident for the remainder of the presidential term. 

The Vice-President has filled the presidential 
chair in four instances : — 

I. After the death of President Harrison, Vice-Presi¬ 
dent John Tyler filled the office of President from 1841 
to 1845. 


I lO 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


2. On the death of President Taylor, Millard Fillmore 
was President from 1850 to 1853. 

3. Andrew Johnson, after the death of Abraham Lin¬ 
coln, was President from 1865 to 1869. 

4. Chester A. Arthur succeeded to the presidency on 
the death of President Garfield, and held that office 
from 1881 to 1885. 

No Vice-President who had become President 
has died during his term of office. Congress has, 
however, by a law passed January, 1886, provided 
that in case of the removal, death, resignation, 
or inability of both the President and Vice-Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, the Secretary of State, 
if there be one, shall become President, and hold 
the office during the remainder of the presidential 
term of four years; and in case there is no Sec¬ 
retary of State, or in case of his removal, death, 
resignation, or inability, then the Secretary of the' 
Treasury, and next in order the Secretary of War, 
the Attorney-General, the Postmaster-General, the 
Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the 
Interior. 

If either of the foregoing officers does not have 
the three qualifications requisite for a President, 
he is not eligible to fill the vacancy, and the next 
officer in order who is eligible would become 
President for the remainder of the the term. 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT III 

Salary. — The salary of the President was 
originally fixed at twenty-five thousand dollars a 
year. Since 1873 it has been fifty thousand dol¬ 
lars a year. The salary of the Vice-President is 
eight thousand dollars a year. 

The Powers of the President. — 

1. “The President shall be commander-in-chief of 
the army and navy of the United States and of the 
militia of the several states when called into actual 
service of the United States.” 

2. “He shall have power to grant reprieves and par¬ 
dons for offences against the United States, except in 
cases of impeachment.” 

3. He makes treaties with foreign nations with the 
advice and consent of the Senate. 

4. He appoints “ ambassadors, foreign ministers and 
consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other 
officers' of the United States whose appointments are 
not herein provided for, and which shall be established 
by law.” 

5. He has power to make temporary appointments 
of officers of the United States when vacancies happen 
during the recess of the Senate. 

Impeachment. —“The President, Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, and all civil officers of the United States 
shall be removed from office on impeachment for 
and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high 
crimes and misdemeanors.” 


I 12 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


Executive Departments. — The executive bus¬ 
iness of the government is divided among eight 
executive departments as follows : — 

1. The Department of State. 

2. The Department of the Treasury. 

3. The Department of War. 

4. The Department of the Navy. 

5. The Department of the Post-Office. 

6. The Department of the Interior. 

7. The Department of Justice. 

8. The Department of Agriculture. 

The Constitution places the full executive 
power in the hands of one man, the President. 
It makes no provision for the Cabinet; but it 
gives the President authority to “ require the 
opinion in writing of the principal officer in each 
of the executive departments upon any subject 
relating to the duties of their respective offices.” 
This implies that executive departments will be 
established so that the various and multiform 
duties pertaining to the executive work of the 
national government may be efficiently and 
systematically performed. The eight depart¬ 
ments just mentioned have been established by 
Congress, and several of them have been sub¬ 
divided into bureaus. The heads of all these 
departments are appointed by the President, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. II3 

The salaries of these officers are eight thousand 
dollars each per annum. 

The Department of State. — Originally this 
was styled the Department of Foreign Affairs. 
The Secretary of State is generally considered 
the highest officer in rank of the executive de¬ 
partments under the President. It is his duty to 
keep the seal of the United States, and to affix it 
to all commissions granted by the President. He 
issues all proclamations in the name of the Presi¬ 
dent, and furnishes copies of papers and records 
of his office when required. 

He keeps the correspondence with foreign 
powers and preserves the original of all laws, 
public documents and treaties with foreign 
nations. It is his duty to conduct the corre¬ 
spondence with our ministers and consuls to other 
countries, with foreign ministers accredited to our 
government, and in general he has charge of mat¬ 
ters pertaining to our foreign relations. He issues 
passports to our citizens visiting foreign countries, 
and warrants for the extradition of criminals to be 
delivered up to foreign governments. 

The Department of State has a diplomatic 
bureau, a consular bureau and a domestic bureau. 

Public Ministers and Consuls. — All persons 
who are sent abroad to represent our government 
are connected with the Department of State. 


114 THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

The different ranks of our ministers are as 
follows: — 

1. Ambassadors. 

2. Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipoten¬ 
tiary. 

3. Ministers Resident. 

4. Chargh d' Affaires. 

5. Secretaries of Legation. 

The Ambassador and the Envoy Extraordi¬ 
nary, and Ministers Plenipotentiary have the 
same pay and appear to be of the same rank. 
Strictly speaking, we never send ambassadors to 
foreign governments. The salaries of our foreign 
ministers range from ten thousand dollars to 
seventeen thousand five hundred dollars a year. 

Charges d'Affaires receive five thousand dollars 
each. The Secretary of Legation is the clerk to 
the Eoreign Embassy. Consuls are not diplo¬ 
matic agents of our government, but are com¬ 
mercial agents residing abroad, whose duty it is 
to watch over the interests of our commerce and 
of our citizens, in the ports of the different coun¬ 
tries. They are charged also with protecting the 
rights of our seamen. The salaries of Consuls- 
General and commercial agents range from one 
thousand dollars to six thousand dollars per 
annum. Many consuls are paid principally by 
fees. 




IHE TsKW STATEj WAR, AND NAVY BUILDING 


























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 11 5 

The Treasury Department. — Of late years 
the importance of this department has gradually 
increased. During the Civil War the govern¬ 
ment issued bank bills, termed “ greenbacks,” 
and established a system of national banks, which 
have increased materially the number of officers 
and employees in this department. Under the 
Secretary of the Treasury are the following 
officers : — 

1. The Comptroller. 

2. Auditor. 

3. Treasurer. 

4. Register. 

5. Assistant Secretary. 

This department has charge of the revenue, 
superintends its collection, grants warrants for 
money to be issued from the treasury, in pursu¬ 
ance of appropriations made by law, and gener¬ 
ally performs all needful services relative to the 
finances of our country. In the Treasury Depart¬ 
ment are the following bureaus : — 

1. The Bureau of the First Comptroller. 

2. The Bureau of the Second Comptroller. 

3. The Bureau of the First Auditor. 

4. The Bureau of the Second Auditor. 

5. The Bureau of the Third Auditor. 

6. The Bureau of the Fourth Auditor. 

7. The Bureau of the Fifth Auditor. 

8. The Bureau of the Sixth Auditor. 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


116 


9. Treasurer. 

10. Register. 

11. Commissioner of Customs. 

12. Comptroller of Currency. 

13. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. 

14. Bureau of Statistics. 

15. The Mint. 

16. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. 

Coast Survey. — The office of the Coast Sur¬ 
vey is connected with the Treasury Department. 
This office prepares charts from actual surveys 
of the seacoast of the United States. The sur¬ 
veys of the Great Lakes are under the control of 
the War Department. 

Light-Houses. — The light-houses of the 
United States were formerly under the control 
of the Treasury Department, but for nearly forty 
years past have been committed “ to the Light- 
House Board of the United States.” This board 
consists of three officers of the army, three of the 
navy, and two civilians noted for their scientific 
attainments, with the Secretary of the Treasury 
president of the board ex officio. This board has 
in charge between one thousand and two thou¬ 
sand light-houses, besides light-vessels, beacons 
and buoys innumerable. 

Under this department also is the Supervising 
Architect, who has general charge of the plans 
and construction of all United States buildings, 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 11 / 

such as custom-houses, court-houses, post-offices, 
etc. 

The War Department. — This department has 
various subdivisions as follows : — 

1. The Office of Adjutant-General. 

2. The Office of the Quartermaster-General. 

3. The Office of the Commissary-General. 

4. The Office of the PostmastenGeneral. 

5. The Office of the Chief of Engineers. 

6. The Ordnance Office. 

7. The Signal Office. 

8. The Bureau of Military Justice. 

The Bureau of Military Justice is in charge of 
an officer with the rank of a Brigadier-General, 
called a Judge-Advocate-General. Under this 
department is the United States Military Acad¬ 
emy at West Point. This school was estab¬ 
lished for the education of officers for the army. 

West Point. — The students are termed cadets, 
and number between three and four hundred. 
They are appointed as follows: One from each 
congressional district, one from each of the 
organized territories, one from the District of 
Columbia, and ten from the United States at 
large. These are all appointed by the President, 
but each member of the national House of Rep¬ 
resentatives nominates the candidate for his dis¬ 
trict. The President appoints the ten candidates 


Il8 THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

at large. Candidates for appointment must not 
be less than seventeen nor more than twenty-two 
years of age, and they are expected to serve in 
the army eight years, unless sooner discharged. 

The examination for admission to West Point 
is careful and accurate upon the elements of a 
good education. In arithmetic, geography, Eng¬ 
lish grammar, reading, writing, spelling, and the 
history of the United States, thoroughness and 
accuracy are required. 

It has become customary of late for congress¬ 
men to hold competitive examinations, and to 
nominate for vacant positions at West Point 
those who have passed the best examinations in 
respect to mental qualifications and scholarship, 
with good physical health, strength, and develop¬ 
ment. 

The superintendent and principal members of 
the faculty are regular officers in the army. 

Each cadet receives an allowance during his 
term of study sufficient to pay his necessary 
expenses for clothing, board, etc. The entire 
expense of the academy is met by the United 
States government. Congress makes annually 
for this purpose an appropriation of three hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars or more. 

The Department of the Navy. — This depart¬ 
ment is divided into eight bureaus, as follows: — 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. II9 

1. The Bureau of Yards and Docks. 

2. The Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting. 

3. The Bureau of Navigation. 

4. The Bureau of Ordnance. 

5. The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. 

6. The Bureau of Provisions and Clothing. 

7. The Bureau of Steam Engineering. 

8. The Bureau of Construction and Repairs. 

Naval Academy. — Under the charge of this 
department is maintained, at Annapolis, Md., a 
naval academy similar to the military academy at 
West Point. To enter this academy as cadet- 
midshipman, the student must not be less than 
fourteen, nor more than eighteen, years of age. 
The same number is allowed as at West Point, 
and by the same method of appointment. The 
course of study embraces six years, and the student 
on graduating becomes midshipman, subject to 
promotion as vacancies occur. This academy re¬ 
quires an annual appropriation from the govern¬ 
ment of two hundred thousand dollars or more. 

The Department of the Post-Office. — Proba¬ 
bly this is the oldest department under our gov¬ 
ernment. Prior to the Revolution the British 
government had established a system of mails 
through these colonies, and Dr. Benjamin Frank¬ 
lin was the superintendent of this system. In 
July, 1775, only a month later than the battle of 


120 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


Bunker Hill, Doctor Franklin received from the 
Second Continental Congress the appointment of 
Postmaster-General of the United Colonies. 

In September, 1789, the first Congress under 
the Constitution made provision for the establish¬ 
ment of the post-office system, and appointed a 
Postmaster-General. As a matter of fact, the 
Federal government never passed an act estab¬ 
lishing the Post-Oifice Department. It was as¬ 
sumed to be in existence, and various acts were 
passed for regulating its management. There 
are three assistant postmasters-general: The 
first assistant is in charge of the Appointment 
Office, the second of the Contract Office, the third 
of the Finance Office. There is also a Superin¬ 
tendent of Foreign Mails. 

The chief officer of the Money-Order Bureau is 
styled the Superintendent of the Money-Order 
System. 

It will readily appear that great care, prompt¬ 
ness, and accuracy is needed in assorting mail- 
matter and preparing it for delivery. Especially 
is this true of the principal lines of railroads 
leading to large cities; for example, between New 
Haven and New York, or between Philadelphia 
and New York; and a large number of mail- 
agents are required in the mail-cars, whose busi¬ 
ness it is to assort the mail-matter, and deposit it 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 


I2I 


in proper pouches, carefully marked, that on ar¬ 
rival at New York the matter can at once be 
placed in the proper boxes in the post-office and 
delivered with the least possible loss of time. • 

Distributing Offices. — Formerly, in all large 
cities, there was a distributing post-office. Into 
this department the mail-pouches had to be 
brought from all directions, which contained mat¬ 
ter to be forwarded to distant points. All this 
matter had to be overhauled, arranged, and put 
into the proper pouches for further transportation; 
for example, at New York, mail-matter from New 
England, designed for the South and West, would 
be all poured out upon large tables, assorted, di¬ 
vided, and thrown into proper pockets for carrying 
to Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Baltimore, Washing¬ 
ton, etc.; while at the same time, and at the same 
distributing office, would be received the mails 
from the South and West, to be overhauled in 
like manner, and forwarded to the East. 

Much time was consumed by this frequent 
change and examination of mail-matter. Time 
has now become so important a factor in the 
transaction of business that every facility must 
be employed for the rapidity of transmission. 
Hence most of the distributing offices have been 
abolished, and mail-pouches are now made up in 
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and all large 


122 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


cities, to be forwarded through to the most dis¬ 
tant points, like San Francisco, Portland, Mon¬ 
treal, and Quebec. 

Cheap Postage. — Formerly, but within the 
recollection of persons now living, it cost five 
cents to transmit an ordinary letter to any post- 
office within thirty miles, ten cents for a longer 
distance, and from that up to twenty-five cents 
across the continent. 

All postage was then paid by the receiver at 
the end of the route. Fifty years ago there was 
no prepayment of postage, and more than forty 
years ago a law was passed by Congress estab¬ 
lishing the postage of a single letter at three 
cents for any distance within our country, pro¬ 
vided the sender should pay the postage; if not 
prepaid, the postage should be five cents. 

In this way people became accustomed to pre¬ 
paying postage, so that after a few years another 
act was passed by Congress, requiring prepay¬ 
ment of postage on all letters, establishing the 
rate at three cents for an ordinary letter without 
regard to distance. At the present time the 
postage on letters not exceeding an ounce in 
weight is two cents to any part of our country, 
and including the British Provinces of North 
America. 

Some years ago a postal league was entered 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 123 

into by the principal civilized nations of the earth, 
establishing the uniform rate of five cents as the 
postage for all letters, of proper weight, from any 
one of the countries within the postal league to 
any other. 

The experiment of cheap postage, which was 
first introduced into Great Britain, a generation 
or more ago, has proved entirely successful. In 
that country the contest for this improvement 
was severe and protracted. Rowland Hill and 
others devoted themselves with great energy to 
the philanthropic enterprise of bringing about 
this much-needed reform. 

When the reduction of rates had proved suc¬ 
cessful in the mother country, it was quickly 
introduced by our government, and from time to 
time, as the rate of postage has been diminished, 
it has been found that the receipts of the Post- 
Office Department have increased. At the present 
time the Post-Office Department more than pays 
for itself, excepting in the more sparsely popu¬ 
lated districts of some sections of our country. 

The Department of the Interior. — This de¬ 
partment was established in 1849. Under it 
are: — 

1. The Patent Office. 

2. The Pension Office. 

3. The Land Office. 


124 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


4. The Science Bureau. 

5. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

6. The Bureau of Education. 

The business of the Patent Office is conducted 
under the direction and control of the Commis¬ 
sioner of Patents, who receives applications and 
superintends the granting and issuing of patents 
in accordance with the various acts of Congress 
passed at different times on this subject. The 
business of the office is to grant letters-patent to 

“ inventors or discoverers of any new or useful art, ma¬ 
chine, manufacture or composition of matter, or 
any new and useful improvement on such, which 
had previously been unknown, and which had not 
been used by others, and which had not been on 
sale or in public use for more than two years prior 
to the application for a patent.” 

The Patent Office employs many clerks called 
examiners, who investigate the claims of every 
invention for which a patent is solicited. The 
patent itself is the official document issued in the 
name of the United States, and is granted for 
the period of seventeen years. Its actual cost is 
thirty dollars. 

Each article offered for sale by the patentee 
must have stamped upon it the word “ patent ” 
with the date when the patent was issued. 



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«i— ' a^ v >?l. 


^#>1 

















THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 125 

The Pension Office. — Since the Civil War, this 
office has grown to gigantic proportions. It has 
in charge the entire matter of granting pensions 
and keeping the accounts thereof in accordance 
with the laws passed by Congress at different 
times upon this subject. The Pension Office in 
Washington is an immense building, filled with 
clerks who are constantly employed in keeping 
the records and attending to the accounts of pen¬ 
sions and pensioners. The business of this office 
has grown from year to year, and the amount of 
money disbursed by it has increased, until, at the 
present time, the aggregate amount of pensions 
paid is in the neighborhood of one hundred mil¬ 
lion dollars a year. 

The Land Office. — The chief officer of this 
bureau is styled the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office. Under the commissioner are the 
following officers: — 

1. Surveyors-General. 

2. Registers of Land Offices. 

3. Receivers of Land Offices. 

Many years ago the United States adopted a 
system of survey for the public lands. This sys¬ 
tem provides that the immense tracts of western 
lands belonging to the United States government 
should be divided into ranges, townships, sec- 


126 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


tions, and fractions of sections. The ranges are 
bounded by meridian lines six miles apart, and 
are numbered from a standard or principal meri’ 
dian east and west. These ranges are divided 
into townships of six miles square, and numbered 
from a given parallel north and south. 

The townships are divided into thirty-six sec¬ 
tions, each one mile square, and hence embrac¬ 
ing six hundred and forty acres. These sections 
are divided, as may be needed, into halves, quar¬ 
ters, eighths, and in some cases sixteenths. The 
sections in a township are numbered as indicated 
in the following diagram : — 


6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

I 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

i8 

17 

16 

15 

14 

13 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

30 

29 

28 

27 

26 

25 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 


This system of marking the division of lands makes 
the description of any individual tract very simple. 













THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 12 / 

If one should purchase a section, the deed 
would specify the number of the section, — in 
such a township and such a range; or if a quar¬ 
ter-section were purchased, the description might 
be as follows : — 

The northeast quarter of section twenty-four, 
township seventeen north, range nine east of 
third principal meridian. The government sells 
this land and issues a patent, which is signed by 
a secretary appointed by the President, and also 
signed by a proper recorder of the land office. 

The quarter-section is one hundred and sixty 
acres. These quarter-sections are divided into 
lots of forty acres each. If one lot was sold, it 
would be indicated as follows: — 

The northwest quarter of northeast quarter of 
section seventeen. 




B 

A 



C 

D 










Section 17. 


In the above diagram the description just given 
applies to lot B. 











128 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


The Bureau of Indian Affairs. — This bureau, 
established in 1832, is in charge of a Commis¬ 
sioner of Indian Affairs, and has the management 
of all matters arising out of the relation of the 
government to the Indians. It cares for, pays to, 
or expends for, ^their benefit, all moneys due on 
account of lands ceded by Indians to the national 
government; looks after their interests in lands 
reserved; has begun the work of allotting and 
patenting a certain portion to each member of 
the tribe individually; preserves order upon In¬ 
dian reservations through Indian police and 
Indian courts; employs agents, farmers, and 
mechanics to live among the Indians and teach 
them the occupations and customs of civilized 
life; assists the Indians in building houses, open¬ 
ing farms, and getting a start in civilization; and 
educates their children. 

Indian Schools. —On Indian reservations are 
many day schools; but as a rule, Indian children 
are educated in industrial boarding schools. 
Most of these are on reservations; but the gov¬ 
ernment supports also large schools off reserva¬ 
tions among white communities, where the pupils 
have special opportunities for acquiring civilized 
habits and customs. In addition to these schools, 
which are wholly sustained by the government, 
the Indian Office makes contracts for the educa- 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 


129 


tion of Indian youth in various private or denom¬ 
inational schools. The work of the Indian Bureau, 
and especially of the Indian schools, is growing in 
importance and in public interest. Many think 
that all tribal relations should cease, and that the 
Indians should be treated as individuals, the same 
as all other races are treated. 

The Bureau of Education. — This bureau was 
established by Congress nearly twenty-five years 
ago for the purpose of collecting statistics relat¬ 
ing to educational matters in the different states 
and territories of the Union, and of promoting 
the progress of education throughout the nation. 
It is especially designed as a central medium of 
communication on educational subjects between 
the various states of the Union and between 
this country and foreign nations. It is placed in 
charge of an officer styled the United States 
Commissioner of Education. This bureau has 
proved itself of great educational value to the 
country. 

The Department of Justice. — The office of 
Attorney-General was created by the first Con¬ 
gress in 1789, but the Department of Justice was 
not established until 1870. This officer, however, 
has always been recognized as a member of the 
Cabinet. Under the Attorney-General are: — 


130 


7'HE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


1. The Solicitor-General. 

2. An Assistant Attorney-General. 

3. An Assistant Attorney-General for the Court of 

Claims. 

4. An Assistant Attorney-General in the Department 

of the Interior. 

5. An Assistant Attorney-General in the Post-Office 

Department. 

6. A Solicitor of Internal Revenue. 

7. Naval Solicitor. 

8. Examiner of Claims. 

9. Solicitor of the Treasury. 

10. An Assistant Solicitor. 

All of these officers are appointed by the 
President and Senate. Besides these officers, in 
this department are employed many persons as 
clerks, copyists, etc. 

Money and Banking. — We have already con¬ 
sidered the coins of our country. Our money 
system is bi-metallic, both gold and silver coins 
being legal tender. The gold and silver coins 
are the ordinary and legitimate legal tender in 
payment of debts. This is customary among the 
nations generally. 

The rapid growth of our country, with the cor¬ 
responding increase of business and population, 
has made it impossible for us to secure a sufficient 
amount of coin to carry on the necessary business 
of the country. Moreover, bank bills are far 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


31 


more convenient than either gold or silver for 
large business transactions. 

Banks were early established under charters 
from the various states. This is not prohibited 
by the Constitution. Prior to the Civil War, the 
bank notes issued by the various state banks in all 
parts of the country amounted to a very large 
sum, and were an important aid in carrying for¬ 
ward the immense business of the country. 

The exigencies of the times during the Civil 
War, especially the need for very large sums of 
money by the government to carry on the war, 
gave occasion for new legislation by the national 
government upon this subject. 

In 1864 a bill was passed by Congress, provid¬ 
ing for a bureau of currency in the Treasury 
Department under the direction of an officer 
called the Comptroller. This bill provides that 
national banks may be formed by voluntary asso¬ 
ciations, with power to issue bills, receive deposits, 
loan money, and perform the ordinary functions 
of banks. 

A year or two later Congress passed another 
act, levying a tax of ten per cent upon all notes 
issued by state banks used for circulation after 
August I, 1866. ‘ Practically, this, of course, ex¬ 
cluded the bills of the state banks from circulation, 
so that nearly all of those banks throughout the 


132 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 


country either closed their business, or transferred 
it to national banks, which were formed to take 
the place of the old state banks. 

Treasury Notes. — During the war the gov¬ 
ernment issued a paper currency, usually denomi¬ 
nated treasury notes, or, as they were called in 
common language, “ greenbacks,” from the cir¬ 
cumstance that the engraved back of the note 
was printed in green ink. The government 
made these greenbacks legal tender in payment 
of debts, and paid them out from time to time for 
army supplies, soldiers’ pay, and other current 
expenses. 

Large amounts of these greenbacks continued 
to circulate throughout the country with a some¬ 
what uncertain and fluctuating value until 1879, 
when the government began to redeem them in 
gold at par. Since then their circulation has 
been continued on a par value with gold and the 
national bank notes. The government, however, 
has redeemed and retired them to such an extent 
that the amount in circulation is now very small. 
It will thus be seen that the Treasury Depart¬ 
ment of government acts in some sense as a 
bank of issue. It does not loan the money as 
other banks do, but pays out its bills for current 
expenses. 

The Constitution provides that the national 


THE EXECUriVE DEPARTMENT. 133 

government shall absolutely control the coinage 
of money. It prohibits the states severally from 
making anything but gold and silver coin a legal 
tender in payment of debts, and now, by bringing 
into operation this system of national banks, 
which has proved so eminently successful, our 
federal government, as it would appear, has 
established the principle that all forms of money 
and currency should be under its control. 

The Department of Agriculture. — This 
department was formerly a bureau under the 
Department of the Interior. By a recent Act of 
Congress, on account of its growing importance 
and the rapidly increasing value of its work, it 
has been made into a distinct department, under 
the direction of a chief officer styled the Secretary 
of Agriculture, who is a member of the Presi¬ 
dent’s Cabinet. 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


A 34 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. Qualifications for President and Vice-President. 

2. When are presidential electors elected? 

3. Who can vote for presidential electors? 

4. When do the presidential electors cast their votes? 

5. When, where, and how are their votes counted? 

6. When does the President take his seat, and what is the 
length of his term of office ? 

7. Describe the new law for the presidential succession. 

8. Enumerate the powers and duties of the President. 

9. What is the President’s salary? 

10. How are treaties made with foreign nations? 

11. How do the qualifications for representative, senator, 
and President differ? 

12. If there is no choice for the President by the vote of 
the electors, how is the President to be chosen? 

13. If the electors make no choice for Vice-President, how 
is the Vice-President to be chosen? 

14. How can a President be removed? 

15. What officers constitute the President’s Cabinet? 

16. Write out in order the executive departments, and give 
the official title for the chief officer in these several depart¬ 
ments. 

17. Name the principal duties of the Secretary of State. 

18. Give some account of our ministers to foreign govern- 
. ments. 

19. Give a brief account of the Military Academy at West 
Point. 

20. Of the Naval Academy at Annapolis. 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 


135 


2T. Write an account of the national system of surveying 
and plotting public land. 

22. Give some account of the Post-Office Department. 

23. Of money and banking. 

24. How is mail matter transported and distributed? 

25. Give some account of the bureau of Indian affairs. 

26. The Bureau of Education. 

27. The Pension Office. 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

The Supreme Court. | 2. The Circuit Court. 

3. The District Court. 

SPECIAL COURTS. 

1. Court of Claims. 

2. Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. 

3. Supreme Courts in the Territories. 

4. District Courts in the Territories. 


36 



CHAPTER III. 


THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

The Constitution provides that there shall be 
“ one Supreme Court and such inferior courts as 
Congress may from time to time ordain and 
establish.” In accordance therewith, Congress 
has established the following system of United 
States courts: — 

1. The Supreme Court. 

2. The Circuit Court. 

3. The District Court.^ 

Besides these there are : — 

1. Court of Claims, established in 1855. 

2. Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. 

3. Supreme Courts in the Territories. 

4. District Courts in the Territories. 

The Supreme Court at the present time con¬ 
sists of a Chief Justice and eight associate jus¬ 
tices. These nine justices correspond to the num¬ 
ber of circuits, and one of them is assigned to 
each circuit. There are nine Circuit Courts, with 
nine judges of these courts. Appeals may be 
taken from the Circuit Court to the Supreme 
Court. The Circuit Courts are presided over by a 

1 In 1891 Congress established a new court, called the Circuit Court of 
Appeals^ with circuits and judges corresponding to the Circuit Court. 

137 


138 THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

Circuit Judge, a District Judge, a Justice of the 
Supreme Court, or any two of them. These Cir¬ 
cuit Courts are again divided into districts, every 
state having at least one District Court. Some of 
the larger states are divided into two or more 

o 

districts. 

The salaries of the district judges vary from 
thirty-five hundred dollars to five thousand dol¬ 
lars. The judges of the Circuit Courts receive a 
salary of six thousand dollars. The associate 
justices of the Supreme Courts have a salary of ten 
thousand dollars; and the Chief Justice of this 
court receives ten thousand five hundred dollars. 

Only certain kinds of cases can be brought 
before the United States courts. These courts 
have jurisdiction in the following cases: — 

1. All cases in law and equity arising under the Con¬ 
stitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under their authority. 

2. All cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
ministers, and consuls. 

3. All cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. 

4. Controversies to which the United States shall be 
a party. 

5. Controversies between two or more states. 

6. Controversies between a state and the citizens of 
another state. 

7. Controversies between citizens of different state.s. 

8. Controversies between citizens of the same state, 
claiming lands under grants of different states. 


THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 139 

9. Controversies between a state or the citizens 
thereof and foreign states, citizens, or subjects. 

The judicial power of the United States is here 
extended to controversies between a. state and 
citizens of another state. This clause gave much 
discussion at the time the Constitution was 
adopted, and the states were unwilling to be 
subjected to lawsuits brought in the federal 
courts by citizens of other states. Accordingly, 
an amendment to the Constitution was proposed, 
and on the 8th of January, 1798, the President 
announced to the Congress that the amendment 
had been adopted by three-fourths of the states, 
and was, therefore, a part of the Constitution. 
This constitutes the eleventh of the amendments, 
and is as follows : — 

^‘The judicial power of the United States shall not be 
construed to extend to any suit in law, commenced 
or prosecuted against one of the United States by 
citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects 
of any foreign state.” 

Such cases must be brought before the state 
courts. 

The Constitution provided that whether in the 
United States courts or in the courts of any state 

“The trial of any crimes, except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment, shall be by jury; and such trials shall be 
held in the state where the said crimes shall have 


140 THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

been committed; but when not committed within 
any state the trial shall be at such place or places 
as Congress may by law have directed.” 

A jury consists of twelve men, selected accord¬ 
ing to law, to determine matters of fact in a legal 
trial. The right of trial by a jury of one’s peers 
was a right highly esteemed by the people of 
Great Britain, which they a long time ago com¬ 
pelled their king to yield to them. This right is 
here made a part of the Constitution of our coun¬ 
try, and although not yielding all the good fruit 
which might be desired, yet is considered as one 
of the guaranties of a fair trial to any one accused 
of crime. 

This clause provides that all trials for crime 
shall be held in the state where such crime has 
been committed. 

Treason. — 

^‘Treason against the United States shall consist only 
in levying war against them, or in adhering to their 
enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person 
shall be convicted of treason unless on the testi¬ 
mony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on 
confession in open court.” 

This clause defines treason as consisting of 
only two things : — 

I. In levying war against the United States. 


THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 141 

2 . In adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and 
comfort, and it provides that, 

“No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, 
or on confession in open court.” 

“ The Congress shall have the power to declare the 
punishment of treason ; but no attainder of treason 
shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except 
during the life of the person attainted.” 

The terms here used refer to an English cus¬ 
tom. The old English law provided certain con¬ 
sequences as to the mode of execution of one who 
had been convicted of treason. He was to be 
put to death in a cruel manner, and his conviction 
involved what was called attainder, and this worked 
corruption of blood, or forfeiture. 

There was no judgment of attainder, but the 
attainder was incident to the conviction as a mat¬ 
ter of course. This attainder, as a natural conse¬ 
quence, was supposed to include corruption of 
blood, or forfeiture. His property of every kind 
was forfeited. His children could not inherit 
property from his ancestors through him. What 
was termed “ corruption of blood ” destroyed the 
power to inherit property. 

Our Constitution prescribes that the offender 
himself shall bear the punishment. It shall not 
descend to his children. There may be forfeiture. 


142 THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 

but this is rather in the nature of a fine, made at 
his conviction. This clause does not mean that 
the forfeiture shall extend only during the life of 
the person. The forfeiture or fine once made, of 
course the property or fine goes to the govern¬ 
ment permanently and not temporarily. 


THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT, 


143 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. Describe the organization of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. 

2. What is the salary of the justices ? 

3. Describe the United States Circuit Courts. 

4. Who may preside in a Circuit Court? 

5. Describe the District Courts. 

6. Name the salary of a judge of the Circuit Court. 

7. What are the limits of the salary of the district judges? 

8. What cases may be brought before the United States 
District Courts? 

9. Circuit Courts? 

10. The Supreme Court? 

11. What courts try ordinary cases of crime, and suits be¬ 
tween citizens of any one state ? 

12. Should a crime be committed in a post-office building, 
or a custom-house building owned by the United States, in 
what court would the case be tried? 

13. Discuss the question of trial by jury.” 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

“Full Faith and Credit.” “Records.” 

‘ ‘ Public Acts. ” “ Judicial Proceedings. ’ 


New States. 
Territories. 


Republican Government 
Amendments. 


144 





CHAPTER IV. 


MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

The Constitution provides that: — 

Full faith and credit shall be given to the public acts, 
records, and judicial proceedings of every other 
state, and the Congress may, by general laws, pre¬ 
scribe the manner in which said acts, records, and 
proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.” 

1. “ Full faith and credit.” By these words 
are meant that the other state shall give the 
same credit, which the state itself gives to the 
acts, etc., when these have been proven. 

2. “ Public acts.” By these are meant the 
laws of the state, or the action of the legislature. 

3. “ Records.” These refer to general matters 
of legal record, such as laws, real estate records, 
legislative journals, etc. 

4. “ Judicial proceedings.” The reference here 
is to the acts of the courts, judgments, orders, 
proceedings. In obedience to the last part of 
the clause. Congress, at an early date, passed an 
act specifying that the acts of the legislature of a 
state shall be authenticated by its seal. The 
same act also specifies the form of proof neces- 


146 


MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 


sary for the records of a court, and the attesta¬ 
tion of the clerk together with the certificate of 
the judge. Such records and proceedings must 
receive full faith and credit in the courts of other 
states. 

New States.— 

New states may be admitted by the Congress into this 
Union ; but no new state shall be formed or erected 
within the jurisdiction of any other state, or any 
state be formed by the junction of two or more 
states, without the consent of the legislatures of 
the states concerned, as well as of the Congress.” 

The first added state was Vermont, which was 
admitted into the Union by an act of Congress 
in 1791. 

In .’^792, Kentucky was admitted. 

In 1796, Tennessee was admitted. 

In 1803, Ohio was admitted. 

In 1812, Louisiana was admitted. 

In 1816, Indiana was admitted. 

In 1817, Mississippi was admitted. 

In 1818, Illinois was admitted. 

In 1819, Alabama was admitted. 

In 1820, Maine was admitted. 

In 1821, Missouri was admitted. 

In 1836, Arkansas was admitted. 

In 1837, Michigan was admitted. 

In 1845, Florida was admitted. 


147 


MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

In 1845, Texas was admitted. 

In 1846, Iowa was admitted. 

In 1848, Wisconsin was admitted. 

In 1850, California was admitted. 

In 1858, Minnesota was admitted. 

In 1859, Oregon was admitted. 

In 1861, Kansas was admitted. 

In 1863, West Virginia was admitted. 

In 1864, Nevada was admitted. 

In 1867, Nebraska was admitted. 

In 1876, Colorado was admitted. 

In 1889, North Dakota was admitted. 

In 1889, South Dakota was admitted. 

In 1889, Montana was admitted. 

In 1889, Washington was admitted. 

In 1890, Idaho was admitted. 

In 1890, Wyoming was admitted. 

It will thus be seen that by the recent admis¬ 
sion of the six states last mentioned, we now 
have in our federal Union forty-four states. 

Territories. — 

“ The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and 
make all needful rules and regulations, respecting 
the territory or other property belonging to the 
United States, and nothing in this Constitution 
shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of 
the United States, or of any particular state.” 


48 


MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 


In accordance with this provision, Congress 
has from time to time passed laws regulating the 
organization of the territories and providing for 
territorial governments. We have at the pres¬ 
ent time, in addition to the forty-four states just 
mentioned, the District of Columbia, the Indian 
Territory, the unorganized Territory of Alaska, 
and four territories with regularly organized ter' 
ritorial governments as follows : — 

1. New Mexico. 3. Utah. 

2. Arizona. 4. Oklahoma. 


Republican Government. — 

“The United States shall guarantee to every state in 
this Union a republican form of government, and 
shall protect each of them against invasion, and, on 
application of the legislature, or of the executive 
when the legislature cannot be convened, against 
domestic violence.” 

By this section a republican government is 
made obligatory upon all the states. No partic¬ 
ular department of the United States government 
is charged with this duty. It would seem reason¬ 
able that Congress should decide what govern¬ 
ment is the established one in a state, and this 
has been sanctioned by a decision of the Supreme 
Court. It would seem necessary also that the 


MISCELLANEOUS PEOVISIONS. 149 

President, as the executive officer of the national 
government, and commander-in-chief of the 
armies of the nation, should see that the provi¬ 
sions of this section should be enforced. 

Amendments. — 

“The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments 
to this Constitution, or, on application of the legis¬ 
lature of two-thirds of the several states, shall call 
a convention for proposing amendments, which, in 
either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, 
as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the 
legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, 
or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the 
one or the other mode of ratification may be 
proposed by Congress: provided that no amend¬ 
ment which may be made prior to the year one 
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any man¬ 
ner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth 
section of the first article, and that no state, with¬ 
out its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage 
in the Senate.” 

Two modes of proposing amendments are here 
given, and there may be two modes of ratifica¬ 
tion : — 

I. Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed 
to the several states by a two-thirds vote of both 
houses in Congress. 


ISO MISCELLANEOUS PEOVISIONS. 

2 . Amendments may be proposed by a convention, 
on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of 
the states. 

Whenever amendments have been proposed to 
the states by either of these methods, there are 
two ways in which they may be ratified: — 

1. By the legislatures of three-fourths of the several 
states. 

2 . By conventions in three-fourths of the several 
states, as the one or the other mode of ratification may 
be proposed by Congress. 

As a matter of fact, all the amendments which 
have been hitherto made have been proposed to 
the states by Congress; and they have all been 
ratified by the legislatures. It is probable that 
this method, which has proved satisfactory in the 
past, will not be departed from in the future. 

Supreme Law of the Land.— 

“This Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
which shsfll be made in pursuance thereof, and all 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
law of the land ; and the judges of every state shall 
be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or 
laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.” 

This clause is of paramount importance in 
showing that the government of the United 


MISCELLANEOUS PEO VISIONS. 151 

States is supreme, and must be, not merely over 
the people, but over the land of the whole country, 
in all places belonging to this nation. 

The Constitution, laws, and treaties are here 
made the supreme law of the land; and the state¬ 
ment is explicit and emphatic, that “ the judges 
of every state shall be bound thereby, anything 
in the constitution or laws of any state to the 
contrary notwithstanding.” 

“ The ratifications of the conventions of nine states shall 
be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitu¬ 
tion between the states so ratifying the same/’ 

As a matter of fact, the adoption of this Con¬ 
stitution was a peaceful revolution. 

The Articles of Confederation provided as fol¬ 
lows : — 

And the Articles of this Confederation shall be inviola¬ 
bly observed by every state, and the union shall be 
perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time here¬ 
after be made in any of them, unless such alteration 
be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, 
and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of 
every state.” 

They further provide, — 

“ That the articles thereof shall be inviolably observed 
by the states they respectively represent, and that 
the union shall be perpetual.” 


152 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS, 

Contrary, then, to these provisions of the Arti¬ 
cles of Confederation, which were emphatically the 
supreme law of the land, this Constitution pro¬ 
vides that it should go into effect between nine 
states as soon as ratified by that number 


MISCELLANEOUS PEO VISIONS. 


153 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. What is meant by full faith and credit ”? 

2. Public acts ” ? 

3. ‘^Records”? 

4. “Judicial proceedings ”? 

5. How may new states be admitted? 

6. What power has Congress over the territories? 

7. What has been the uniform method of proposing amend¬ 
ments to the Constitution? 

8. What has been the uniform method of adopting amend¬ 
ments to the Constitution? 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

First Ten Amendments. — A Bill of Rights. 

Eleventh Amendment. — Judicial Department. 

Twelfth Amendment. — The Election of President. 

Thirteenth Amendment. — Slavery. 

Fourteenth Amendment. — Citizenship, Congressional Represen¬ 
tation, Inability to hold Office under the United States, the 
Public Debt. 

Fifteenth Amendment. — Shall not deny or abridge the right to 
vote. 

Putting the Constitution into Operation. 


154 


CHAPTER V. 


THE AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Conventions were called in the several states 
to discuss and adopt, or reject, this Constitution. 
After a time it was adopted by all of the thirteen 
original states, yet in several conventions there 
was a strong desire for certain modifications to 
satisfy the evident will of the people. 

Congress, at its first session under the Consti¬ 
tution, proposed to the states twelve articles of 
amendment. Of these articles ten were ratified 
by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states, 
and became part and parcel of the Constitution 
from the fifteenth day of December, 1791. These 
constitute the first ten of the amendments to the 
Constitution. They, in general, relate to the 
rights of the people and to limitations of govern¬ 
ment. (The teacher is advised to turn to the 
Constitution, and read these amendments, dis¬ 
cussing them in an informal way with the class.) 

The Eleventh Amendment was proposed at the 
first session of the Third Congress, in 1794, and 
was declared adopted as a part of the Constitu¬ 
tion January 8, 1798. 


55 


156 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

This amendment, which has been already con¬ 
sidered, restricts the judicial power of the United 
States in suits at law between one of the United 
States and citizens of another state. 

The Twelfth Amendment relates to the manner 
of electing President and Vice-President, and has 
already been considered. It was proposed by the 
first session of the Eighth Congress, in 1803, and 
was adopted by the requisite number of states the 
next year. At present there are three other 
amendments, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and 
Fifteenth, all of which have grown out of the 
Civil War. 

The Thirteenth Amendment. — 

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United 
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

“ Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation.” 

This amendment was proposed by Congress in 
1865, and ratified by the constitutional number of 
states the same year. 

The Fourteenth Amendment. — 

“ All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens 
of the United States and of the state wherein they 


amendments to the constitution. 157 

reside. No state shall make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of 
citizens of the United States; nor shall any state 
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property with- 
out due process of law, nor deny to any person 
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the 
laws. 

Representatives shall be apportioned among the sev¬ 
eral states, according to their respective numbers, 
counting the whole number of persons in each state, 
excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right 
to vote at any election for the choice of electors for 
President and Vice-President of the United States, 
representatives in Congress, the executive and 
judicial officers of a state, or the members of the 
legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male 
inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of 
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any 
way abridged, except for participation in rebellion 
or other crime, the basis of representation therein 
shall be reduced in the proportion which the num¬ 
ber of such male citizens shall bear to the whole 
number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in 
such state. 

No person shall be a senator or representative in 
Congress, or elector of President or Vice-President, 
or hold any office, civil or military, under the 
United States, or under any state, who, having 
previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, 
or as an officer of the United States, or as a mem¬ 
ber of any state legislature, or as an executive or 
judicial officer of any state, to support the Consti- 


158 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

tution of the United States, shall have engaged in 
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given 
aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Con¬ 
gress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, 
remove such disability. 

“ The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for 
payment of pensions and bounties for services in 
suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be 
questioned. But neither the United States nor 
any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation 
incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against 
the United States, or any claim for loss or emanci¬ 
pation of any slave ; but all such debts, obligations 
and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

“ The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appro¬ 
priate legislation, the provisions of this article.” 

This amendment was proposed by Congress in 
1866, and was declared to be a part of the Con¬ 
stitution in July, 1868. 

Fifteenth Amendment. — 

“ The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United 
States, or by any state, on account of race, color, 
or previous condition of servitude. 

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
by appropriate legislation.” 

The object of this article was to secure suffrage 
to the colored race, especially to the freed men of 


AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 159 

the South. It specifies three points, in respect to 
which the right of citizens of the United States 
to vote shall not be denied or abridged, either by 
the national or state governments: — 

1. On account of race. 

2. On account of color. 

3. On account of previous condition of servitude. 

It was at first proposed to add two other points, 
nativity and religion, but these were stricken out 
before the proposed amendment was sanctioned 
by Congress. 

This amendment was proposed by Congress in 
1869, and was declared to be ratified in 1870. 

Putting the Constitution into Operation.— 

In July, 1788, a committee was appointed by the 
Congress to report an act for putting the Consti¬ 
tution into operation. This committee reported 
an act which was adopted on the 13th of Sep¬ 
tember, as follows: — 

Resolvedj that the first Wednesday in January next be 
the day of appointing electors in the several states, 
which before the said day shall have ratified the 
said Constitution; that the first Wednesday in Feb¬ 
ruary next be the day for the electors to assemble 
in their respective states, and vote for a President; 
and that the first Wednesday in March next be the 
time, and the present seat of Congress the place, 
for commencing proceedings under the said Consti¬ 
tution.” 


l6o AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

The first Wednesday in March, 1789, happened 
to be the fourth day of the month, and as one 
presidential term and two Congresses occupies, 
by the Constitution, exactly four years, it follows 
that the inauguration of the President is to take 
place on the fourth day of March every fourth 
year, beginning with 1789. 

Washington was elected President by unani¬ 
mous vote. John Adams was declared elected 
Vice-President, and the new government went 
into operation quietly and with the general sanc¬ 
tion of the people of the country. It is not a 
little remarkable that the first President should 
have been elected unanimously, and re-elected 
unanimously. No President since his day has 
received a unanimous vote of all the electors„ 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. i6i 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned, and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. When were the first ten amendments adopted? 

2. Why are they called a ‘‘ Bill of Rights ” ? 

3. What is the Eleventh Amendment? 

4. Give a brief history of the Twelfth Amendment, and 
state its object. 

5. Tell the story of the Thirteenth Amendment. 

6. Also the Fourteenth. 

7. What was the object of the Fifteenth Amendment? 

8. What measures were taken by the Congress for putting 
the Constitution into operation ? 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


THE GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY. 


The Treaty of Paris. 
Weakness of the Articles of 
Confederation. 

Purchase of Louisiana. 
Purchase of Florida. 

Spanish Boundary. 


Annexation of Texas. 
Mexican Provinces. 
Discovery of Gold. 

The Oregon Country. 
Alaska. 

Our Present Condition. 



CHAPTER VI. 


THE GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY. 

The original thirteen English colonies which 
secured their independence by the revolutionary 
war, extended from the St. Croix River on the 
eastern borders of Maine to the southern boun¬ 
dary of Georgia. The settlements in these colo¬ 
nies were invariably near the sea-coast. At the 
beginning of the revolution, but few settlers were 
to be found more than a hundred miles from the 
Atlantic. These colonies in the main extended 
westward to the Alleghany Mountains, but sev¬ 
eral of them claimed, under their grants and 
charters from the British crown, westward to the 
Mississippi River. 

The Treaty of Paris. — The treaty of peace 
between the new Republic and Great Britain was 
negotiated at Paris. The preliminary treaty was 
signed in 1782, and the definitive treaty was exe¬ 
cuted the year following. Our commissioners in 
the negotiation of this treaty, to whom this coun¬ 
try owes great gratitude for their patriotism and 
sagacity, were John Adams, John Jay, and Benja¬ 
min Franklin. In spite of strong opposition 

163 


164 GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY. 

they succeeded in securing for us the entire terri¬ 
tory as far north as the Great Lakes, and west¬ 
ward to the Mississippi River, and southward to 
latitude 31°, the northern limit of Florida. This 
immense territory comprised more than eight 
hundred thousand square miles, and was from 
three to four times as large as France, or Spain, 
or Italy. 

Weakness of Articles of Confederation.— 

But the national government was weak and in¬ 
efficient. The Articles of Confederation provided 
only for a Congress of delegates from the differ¬ 
ent states sitting as one house only, with no 
executive and nc judicial department. This Con¬ 
gress had all po ver in advising and recommend¬ 
ing, but no power to oblige the various States to 
perform* their requisite duties. In 1787, on the 
recommendation of the Congress, a convention 
composed of delegates from the several states, 
assembled in Philadelphia, and framed the United 
States Constitution. This Constitution was sub¬ 
mitted to the several states, and finally adopted 
by them all. Washington was unanimously 
elected the first President, and the new govern¬ 
ment went into effect on the fourth of March, 
1789. The country soon began to rally, business 
improved, agriculture flourished, and manufac¬ 
tures increased. The new Republic was now on 


GROWTH OF OVR COUNTRY. 165 

a strong basis with a vigorous government, and 
it entered upon a career of unexampled growth 
and prosperity. 

Purchase of Louisiana. — The extent of terri¬ 
tory remained unchanged until the year 1803. 
Three years before this, Napoleon Bonaparte, 
then the First Consul of France, had secured 
from Spain that territory called the Province of 
Louisiana, which extended from the Gulf of Mex¬ 
ico on the south, northward as far as the Lake 
of the Woods, and from the Mississippi River 
westward to the Rocky Mountains. Early in the 
year 1803, Napoleon, finding himself on the eve 
of a war with Great Britain, proposed to sell this 
immense territory to the United States, in order 
to prevent its capture by Great Britain, and to 
replenish the treasury of France. In April of 
the year just mentioned, the treaty was executed 
by Napoleon and his secretary of the treasury, 
Barbe Marbois, for the Republic of France, and 
Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe for 
the United States of America. By this peace¬ 
ful treaty, the entire territory, called the Province 
of Louisiana, was conveyed to the United States, 
we paying therefor the sum of fifteen million dol¬ 
lars. It was an accession so great that, compris¬ 
ing as it did nine hundred thousand square miles, 
it more than doubled our former territory. The 


l66 GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY. 

result has proved that it was of great importance 
to our country. 

The Purchase of Florida. — Having obtained 
a foothold upon the Gulf of Mexico, our states¬ 
men naturally desired to secure the coast from 
the Atlantic to New Orleans. Consequently, in 
1819, we negotiated a treaty with Spain by which, 
for the sum of five million dollars, she ceded to 
us her provinces of East and West Florida. This 
treaty completed our title to the territory from 
the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and from 
the Gulf to the Great Lakes. 

Spanish Boundary. — The third article of the 
Florida treaty related to the boundary line be¬ 
tween the United States and the Spanish prov¬ 
inces of North America. It established this line 
as follows: — 

Beginning on the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth 
of the Sabine River, and following up that river 
to a certain point, thence due north, on the line 
which is now the boundary line of Texas, to 
the Red River; thence up the Red River to lati¬ 
tude one hundred; thence due north to the 
Arkansas River, and up the Arkansas to its 
source ; thence due north to latitude forty-two, 
and westward upon that parallel to the Pacific 
Ocean. Spain relinquished all claim to the terri- 


GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY. 167 

tory north and east of this line, and the United 
States relinquished to her all claim to the territory 
west and south of the line. This treaty gave us 
a stronger claim to the Oregon country, while we 
relinquished to Spain whatever claims we might 
have had to Texas. 

Annexation of Texas. — Texas declared her¬ 
self independent of Mexico in 1836; and in 1845, 
by joint resolution of Congress, ratified by the 
government of Texas, she was annexed to the 
United States. 

Purchase of Mexican Provinces. — The war 

with Mexico followed; and at the conclusion of 
that war, our army being entirely victorious, and 
having captured the city of Mexico, a treaty was 
made between us and that country by which 
Mexico relinquished to us her provinces of New 
Mexico and Upper California, for which we paid 
the sum of fifteen million dollars. In 1853, 
through General Gadsden, we purchased from 
Mexico an additional strip of territory called the 
Masilla Valley, south of the Gila River, and now 
known as the Gadsden Purchase. For this strip 
we paid Mexico the sum of ten million dollars. 

The Discovery of Gold. — Almost simultane¬ 
ously with the news of the treaty with Mexico 
came the report of the discovery of gold in 


l68 GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY. 

California. The “gold fever” spread rapidly 
throughout the country, and in 1849 and 1850 
thousands of persons flocked from all sections 
to the California coast in search of gold. 

The state government was organized, and 
California was admitted as one of the states of 
the Union in 1850. 

The Size of these Additions. — The annexa¬ 
tion of Texas, with her original boundaries, gave 
us about three hundred thousand square miles; 
and the purchase of the Mexican provinces gave 
us six hundred thousand square miles more, so 
that our territory by this means was increased 
to the extent of another nine hundred thousand 
square miles. 

The Oregon Country. — Our title to Oregon 
is based upon several claims, as follows: — 

1. By right of discovery (Captain Gray in 1792). 

2. By exploration (Lewis and Clark in 1805-6). 

3. By first settlement (Astoria in 18ii). 

4. By purchase from France in 1803 of whatever 
claim she might have had to the country. 

5. By purchase from Spain, in the Florida treaty, 
1819, of all her right to this territory north of latitude 
forty-two. 

6. By treaty with Great Britain in 1846, by which 
she yielded to us all her claim to the country south of 
latitude forty-nine. 


GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY. 169 

This country included what to-day is com¬ 
prised in the states of Oregon, Washington, and 
Idaho, and embraces about three hundred thou¬ 
sand square miles. Many parts of it are of the 
greatest fertility, with a mild and equable climate, 
forming in all respects one of the most delightful 
countries in the world. 

Alaska. — In 1867 our government, through 
Secretary Seward, negotiated a treaty with the 
Russian government by which we obtained the 
entire territory of Alaska, comprising, in round 
numbers, about six hundred thousand square 
miles. We paid for this territory the sum of 
seven million two hundred thousand dollars. 
This is our latest addition. 

Our Present Whole Country. — Our country 
now embraces about 3,600,000 square miles. Its 
eastern limits are the Atlantic Ocean; its west¬ 
ern, the Pacific Ocean; its southern boundary 
is upon the Gulf of Mexico, and its northern 
is the Arctic Ocean. It extends through about 
one hundred and thirty degrees of longitude, and 
about forty-five degrees of latitude. It may be 
considered as embraced in four nearly equal divi¬ 
sions. The first part, being a little less than a 
quarter of the whole, includes the original terri¬ 
tory east of the Mississippi River; the second 


170 GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY. 

quarter, of about 900,000 square miles, embraces 
the Province of Louisiana; the third quarter con¬ 
sists of the original Texas, about 300,000 square 
miles, and the Mexican cessions of about 600,000 
more; the fourth quarter includes the Oregon 
country, about 300,000 square miles, and Alaska, 
about 600,000 more. 

Our Present Condition. — The entire extent 
of our country at the present time is 3,603,884 
square miles. This is divided into forty-four 
states, six territories, and one federal district. 
The states proper include about 2,800,000 square 
miles, and the territories 800,000 square miles. 
The aggregate population is not far from 64,000,- 
000, of which about 63,000,000 are in the states, 
and nearly 1,000,000 in the territories, including 
the District of Columbia. The densest popula¬ 
tion is in the State of Rhode Island, which 
averages about two hundred and fifty per square 
mile. If the entire country had a population as 
dense as Rhode Island, it would contain over 
900,000,000, or about three-fifths of the present 
population of the globe. 


GROWTH OF OUR COUNTRY. 


171 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. What was the original extent of the United States 
territory? 

2. Describe the Treaty of Paris. 

3. Discuss the weakness of the Articles of Confederation. 

4. Write a brief account of the purchase of the Province 
of Louisiana. 

5. When was Florida purchased, of whom, and for what 
price ? 

6. Describe the third article of the Treaty of Florida. 

7. Give some account of the annexation of Texas. Of the 
purchase of New Mexico and California. 

8. Tell something about the discovery of gold in California, 
and its effects upon the country. 

9. Upon what various grounds did we lay claim to the 
Oregon country ? 

10. When was Alaska purchased; by whom, of whom, at 
what price, and what was its extent ? 

11. Describe the present extent of our whole country: its 
aggregate size and its aggregate population. 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 

RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLIES. 

Formation of a Society. 

Form of a Constitution. 

Election of Officers. 

Officers and their Duties. 

Transaction of Business, 


172 


CHAPTER VII. 


RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR DELIBERATIVE 
ASSEMBLIES. 

Section I. 

FORMATION OF A SOCIETY. 

This is a country of majorities. The funda¬ 
mental principle of our government is that the 
majority votd shall dominate. Deliberative as¬ 
semblies are numerous throughout the land, from 
the Senate of the United States to the boys’ de¬ 
bating society in the school. Every pupil in the 
upper classes of the grammar school should learn 
how to transact business in an orderly manner in 
an organized meeting. 

The Senate of the United States, the National 
House of Representatives, the State Senate and 
House, the town meeting, the agricultural and 
the historical society, the county convention, the 
village lyceum, all are governed by “ Rules of 
Order.” The rules of the Senate are fixed and 
well known. The rules of the House are adopted 
by each Congress. 


173 


174 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


“ Cushing’s Manual,” “Jefferson’s Manual,’’and 
Barclay’s “ Digest of the Rules and Practice of 
the House of Representatives, U. S.,” are well- 
known treatises on “ Rules of Procedure.” 

Let us suppose that the pupils of a certain 
school are about to form a debating society. 
The proper method would be for a number of 
persons interested in the matter to sign and post 
in the school-house a call for a meeting to organ¬ 
ize such a society. Notice might, however, be 
given in some other manner; for example, at the 
request of several pupils, the teacher could give 
notice that all persons interested in effecting such 
an organization are requested to meet at such a 
time and place. If a written notice were posted, 
then the time having arrived, and the company 
being assembled, some one who had signed the 
call should call the meeting to order. Then the 
call may be read. Next a chairman should be 
chosen, on nomination, and a majority vote. A 
majority vote means a majority of all votes cast. 
A plurality means a larger number than any other 
one candidate has received. Blank ballots are not 
votes, and should not be counted as such. The 
chairman, being elected, takes the chair, and calls 
for the nomination of a secretary. When the sec¬ 
retary is elected, the meeting is duly “ organized.” 

It would then be proper to call for the appoint- 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


175 


ment of a committee to draft a “ Constitution ” 
and “ By-Laws.” The meeting might then ad¬ 
journ to a certain time and place, or to the call 
of the chairman, or to the call of the committee. 

Report of the Committee. — At the next meet¬ 
ing the “ Committee on Constitution ” reports a 
draft for constitution and by-laws, which, after 
discussion and amendments, may be adopted. 

Form of a Constitution. — The following will 
indicate the ordinary form of a constitution. Of 
course every constitution will have some dis¬ 
tinguishing features differing from every other 
one. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE CHICKATAWBUT 
DEBATING CLUB. 

Article I. 

NAME. 

The name of this organization shall be the Chickataw- 
out Debating Club. 

Article II. 

OBJECT. 

The object of the club shall be to improve its mem¬ 
bers in the art of public speaking and conducting affairs 
in a deliberative assembly. 


1/6 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


Article III. 

MEMBERS. 

Section i. Membership in this club is confined 
exclusively to the members of the senior class in the 

-Grammar School, in the town (or city) of- } 

Section 2. Any member of said class in said school 
desiring to become a member of this club, should make 
application to the Executive Committee, and, being 
recommended by said committee, and receiving a two- 
thirds vote of the members of the club present at any 
regular meeting shall be constituted a member by sign¬ 
ing the constitution. 


Article IV. 

OFFICERS. 

Section i. The officers of the club shall consist of a 
President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, 
and an Executive Committee, composed of the above- 
named officers and three other members. 

Section 2. All officers shall be elected by ballot at 
the first meeting of each school year. 

Section 3. The Executive Committee shall have the 
general management of the affairs of the club. 

Section 4. It shall be the duty of the President, 
Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer faithfully to 
discharge the duties usually required of such officers in 
an association of this character. The President shall 
be chairman of the Executive Committee. 

1 This draft of a constitution is designed to fit a large graded grammar 
school. For a high school, or an ungraded* school, the necessary changes 
from this form will readily suggest themselves to suit the particular 
school. 





RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


177 


The Secretary shall give notice of the regular meet¬ 
ings, and of any special meetings called by the Presi¬ 
dent, by posting upon the bulletin board in the school- 
house a written notice at least twenty-four hours prior 
to the time for said meeting. 

Article V. 

FINANCE. 

Section i. The annual membership fee shall be-, 

which shall be payable at the first meeting in each 
school year. 

Section 2. Any member who shall not have paid 
his dues on or before the first regular meeting in De¬ 
cember shall be notified by the treasurer that unless 
such dues are paid by the date of the first meeting in 
January his name shall be dropped from the member¬ 
ship of the club. 

Section 3. No bills shall be paid by the treasurer 
till they are audited by the president.^ 

Article VI. 

MEETINGS. 

Section i. The regular meetings of this club shall 
be on the second and fourth Friday evenings of each 
month, during term time. 

Section 2. Special meetings may be called by the 
president, and he shall call a special meeting at the 
request in writing of three members of the club. 

1 In societies where the treasurer handles large sums of money, it is 
common to have an auditor, as a special officer of the society. 



1/8 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


Articlf. VII. 

AMENDMENTS. 

This constitution may be altered or amended by a 
twO'thirds vote of the members present at any regular 
meeting of the club, notice of such alteration or amend¬ 
ment having been given in writing at a previous regular 
meeting. 

The above will serve as a model by which the 
pupils in any school may frame a constitution to 
suit their own wants. 

When the constitution has been reported by 
the committee, it should be read throughout, and 
then discussed article by article. When each 
article has been duly considered, and such amend¬ 
ments as might be proposed have been adopted 
or rejected, the article should be adopted, and 
then the next, and so on, until the entire consti¬ 
tution has been adopted by articles. It should 
then be adopted as a whole. 

Election of Officers. — After the adoption of 
the constitution, the first business in order will 
be the election of officers. As each officer is 
elected, he replaces the temporary one, and when 
they are all elected the organization is completed. 

In most cases the constitution provides some 
form for the admission of members. It is quite 
common for associations to require that each 
member shall sign his name to the constitution. 



RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


179 


Section II. 

OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES. 

Chairman or President. — It is the duty of 
the Chairman to call the meeting to order at the 
appointed time, to preside at all the meetings, to 
announce the business before the assembly in its 
proper order, to state and put all questions prop¬ 
erly brought before the assembly, to preserve 
order and decorum, and to decide all questions of 
order (subject to an appeal). When he “ puts a 
question ” to vote, and when speaking upon an 
appeal, he should stand ; in all other cases he can 
sit. In all cases where his vote would affect the 
result, or where the vote is by ballot, he can vote. 
When a member rises to speak, he should say, 
“ Mr. Chairman,” and the Chairman should reply, 
“ Mr. A.” He should not interrupt a speaker 
so long as he Is in order, but should listen to his 
speech, which should be addressed to him and 
not to the assembly. The Chairman should be 
careful to abstain from the appearance of par¬ 
tisanship, but he has the right to call another 
member to the chair while he addresses the 
assembly on a question; but when speaking to 
a question of order he does not leave the chair. 

The Clerk, Secretary, or Recording Secretary, 

as he is variously called, should keep a record of 


i8o 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


the proceedings of the convention, society, or as¬ 
sociation, whose officer he is. It is not his duty 
to record discussions, but only the resolutions, 
motions, orders, or whatever the action of the soci¬ 
ety may be called. He should record every vote, 
stating whether the motion or resolution which 
had been offered was adopted or rejected. 

It is sometimes customary in the records to 
say that the question was discussed by Messrs. 
A., B., and C. in the affirmative, and D., E., and 
F. in the negative. 

It is necessary for an inexperienced secretary 
to keep constantly in mind in making his records 
the fact that he is to record not what was said 
but what was done. Above all, he should never 
make in his minutes any criticism, favorable or 
unfavorable, upon anything that was said or done 
in the meeting. 

The Form of the Minutes can be as follows: — 

“The regular meeting of the Chickatawbut Club was 
held in the school-room, on Friday evening, May 9, 1890. 
The president was in the chair, and in the absence of 
the secretary, Mr. A. was chosen secretary pro tern. 
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and 
approved. The following persons were admitted by 
vote as members of the club, Messrs. A. B., C. D., 
E. F., and Misses G. H., I. J., and K. L.” 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. iSl 

The question for the evening was the follow¬ 
ing:— 

'^Resolved, That the explorations of Henry M. Stan¬ 
ley will prove of greater value to the world than the 
Arctic voyages of Dr. Kane. 

“The disputants upon the affirmative were Messrs. 
M. N., O. P., and R. S., and in the negative Mr. T. U., 
and Misses V. W., and X. Y. 

“The question was decided by a large majority in the 
affirmative. 

“At five minutes before nine o’clock the club ad¬ 
journed. 

“S- E- C-, Secretary." 

The constitution, and, if there are any, the by¬ 
laws, rules of order, and standing rules should be 
written in a book with blank pages, writing only 
on the right-hand page. The left-hand page 
should be left blank, on which amendments to the 
articles opposite may be entered, if there should 
be any. Each amendment should have recorded 
with it a reference to the date and page of the 
minutes where the action of the society adopting 
such amendment is recorded. It is customary to 
insert the constitution, etc., in the first part of 
the society’s book, after which would be recorded 
the names of the members. Following these 
names the page can be used for the record of the 
minutes of the society. 


82 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


Treasurer. — It is the duty of this officer to 
collect and hold the funds belonging to the 
society, and to pay out money on the order of 
the proper officer. 

The treasurer should make a report annually 
to the society, which report should contain a 
statement of the amount of money on hand at the 
beginning of the year and amount received dur¬ 
ing the year, including the sources through which 
the money has come ; and a statement in brief of 
the amount of money paid out by order of the 
society and the balance on hand at the end of the 
year. This report is usually referred to an audit¬ 
ing committee, consisting of one or more persons, 
whose duty it is to examine the treasurer’s books 
and vouchers, and make a certificate as to the 
correctness of his report. The form of auditor’s 
report is usually something like the following: — 

“ I hereby certify that I have examined the accounts 

and vouchers of the above report of T-R-, the 

treasurer of the Chickatawbut Club, and find them cor¬ 
rect, and that the balance on hand is,” etc., stating the 
amount on hand. 

It is usual after the auditor’s report has been 
read to accept the treasurer’s report. 

Committees. — In small societies there is less 
need of committees, but in permanent organiza¬ 
tions, like the National or State Senate or House, 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


183 


Common Council in a city, or school committee, 
nearly all matters of business should be referred 
to appropriate committees. These sub-commit- 
tees examine the matters referred to them and 
report to the entire body. When a committee 
thus reports, it is usual for the body to accept its 
report, and unless special objections appear, to 
adopt its recommendations. 

The first-named member of a committee is 
usually its chairman. It is his duty to call the 
committee together and to preside at their meet¬ 
ings. If he is absent it is customary for the next 
member in order to preside. A majority of a 
committee should constitute a quorum. The 
committee should not act unless a quorum be 
present. The committee may make a majority 
and minority report if the members do not agree. 
When a majority and a minority report have 
been presented to a body, it is competent for any 
member to move the acceptance of the majority 
report. It is proper for some other member to 
move to substitute the minority for the majority 
report. The minority report cannot be acted 
upon except by such motion to substitute it for 
the majority. When the committee’s report has 
been read and accepted, the committee is dis¬ 
charged, without further motion, unless their 
report be a report of progress. 


184 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


Section III. 

TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS. 

Every order, resolution, or motion to be sub¬ 
mitted to a deliberative assembly should be in 
writino^, and having been read should be handed 
to the president. 

The following will illustrate the form of a reso¬ 
lution : — 

Resolved. — That the thanks of the Chickatawbut 
Club are hereby tendered to the principal of our school, 
Mr. A. B., for his timely, interesting, and useful address, 
to which we have just listened.” 

The person desirous of offering this resolution 
should rise from his seat and address the chair¬ 
man by his title, thus “ Mr. President,” or “ Mr. 
Chairman,” who immediately recognizes him and 
announces his name. He, then, having the floor, 
says “ I move the adoption of the following reso¬ 
lution,” which he reads and hands to the chair¬ 
man. Some one else seconds the motion, and the 
chairman says, “ It has been moved and seconded 
that the following resolution be adopted.” He 
then reads the resolution, and, says, “ Are there any 
remarks upon the resolution ? ” Here will follow 
a discussion of the resolution pro and con, if the 
members should be so disposed. If no one rises 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


35 


to speak when the question is thrown open for 
discussion, or it having been discussed and the 
president thinks the debate is closed, he says, 
“ Are you ready for the question ? ” If no one 
rises to speak, he puts the question in a form 
similar to the following: “ The question is upon 
the adoption of the resolution which you have 
heard read. Those of you who are in favor of 
adopting this resolution will manifest it by saying 
‘ Aye ’; those contrary minded, ‘ No.’ It is a vote, 
and the resolution is adopted.” If the majority 
vote in the negative, the chairman will state that 
the resolution is lost. If he is in doubt, he will 
say, “ The chair is in doubt, those in favor of the 
adoption of the resolution will rise and stand 
until counted.” The president or the secretary 
makes the count. Those opposed will rise.” 
The chairman announces the result. 

A debating society like the one proposed above 
will prove of great service to young persons at 
school. They will not only improve themselves 
in the ability to speak before others, and present 
their thoughts in a clear and forcible manner, but 
they will rapidly improve their power to think 
upon any question which may be presented to 
their minds for consideration. Not the least 
advantage will be found to consist in their be¬ 
coming familiar with proper methods of transact- 


RULES OF PROCEDURE. 


186 

ing business in a deliberative assembly. Every 
such young person should familiarize himself with 
all points connected with rules of order, and such 
persons are specially advised to make themselves 
familiar with some one or more of the books 
heretofore recommended on this subject. 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. Why is this a country of “ Majorities ” ? 

2. Describe the method of forming a society. 

3. What are the essential officers? 

4. Method of electing officers. 

5. Duties of President. 

6. Duties of Secretary. 

7. Duties of Treasurer. 

8. Why have an Auditor? 

9. Write a form for auditing the Treasurer’s annual report. 

10. Write a form of Minutes ” of a meeting. 

11. Write a “Resolution,” extending the thanks of the 
society for a lecture. 



APPENDIX. 


THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic. Tranquillity, 
provide for the common defence, promote the general Wel¬ 
fare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our 
Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the 
United States of America. 

ARTICLE. I. 

Section, i. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist 
of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Section. 2. ‘^^^The House of Representatives shall be com¬ 
posed of Members chosen every second year by the People of 
the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have 
the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous 
Branch of the State Legislature. 

No person shall be a Representative who shall not have 
attained to the Age of twenty five years, and been seven Years 

[Note.—T he small figures in brackets are not in the original, but 
have been added subsequently, to mark the different clauses in a section. 
In reprinting the constitution here, the spelling, punctuation, and capitali¬ 
zation of the original have been preserved.] 


187 


188 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be 
chosen. 

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several States which may be included within this 
Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be 
determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, 
including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and 
excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. 
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after 
the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and 
within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as 
they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives 
shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State 
shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enum¬ 
eration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be 
entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and 
Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six. 
New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland 
six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five. South Carolina five, and 
Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any 
State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Elec¬ 
tion to fill such Vacancies. 

‘^^^The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker 
and other officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeach¬ 
ment. 

Section. 3. ^^^^The Senate of the United States shall be 
composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the 
Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have 
one Vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence 
of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be 
into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 189 


shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the 
second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the 
third class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one-third 
may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen 
by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legis¬ 
lature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary 
Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which 
shall then fill such Vacancies. 

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained 
to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of 
the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an In¬ 
habitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice President of the United States shall be President 
of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally 
divided. 

•^^^The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a 
President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, 
or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United 
States. 

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeach¬ 
ments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath 
or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is 
tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : And no Person shall be 
convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Mem¬ 
bers present. 

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend fur¬ 
ther than to removal from Office, and Disqualification to hold 
and enjoy any Office of honour. Trust or Profit under the 
United States : but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be 
liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punish¬ 
ment, according to Law. 

Section. 4. '^^^The Times, Places and Manner of holding 
Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed 
in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may 


190 CONSTITUriON OF THE UNITED STATES. 


at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as 
to the places of chusing Senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, 
and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day. 

Section. 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elec¬ 
tions, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a 
Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but 
a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be 
authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in 
such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may 
provide. 

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceed¬ 
ings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with 
the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. 

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and 
from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as 
may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and 
Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, 
at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the 
Journal. 

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, 
without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three 
days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses 
shall be sitting. 

Section. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive 
a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, 
and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They 
shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the 
Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at 
the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and 
returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in 
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other 
Place. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 191 


No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under 
the Authority of the United States, which shall have been 
created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased 
during such time ; and no Person holding any Office under the 
United States, shall be a Member of either House during his 
Continuance in Office. 

Section. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in 
the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or 
concur with Amendments as on other Bills. 

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be 
presented to the President of the United States; If he approve 
he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections 
to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter 
the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to recon¬ 
sider it. If after such Reconsideration • two thirds of that 
House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together 
with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall like¬ 
wise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that 
House, it shall become a Law. But in all such cases the Votes 
of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the 
Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be 
entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any 
Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days 
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, 
the same shall be a law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, 
unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, 
in which Case it shall not be a Law. 

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concur¬ 
rence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be 
necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be 
presented to the President of the United States; and before 
the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being 


192 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 


disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules 
and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. 

Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power 

■^^^To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to 
pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and gen¬ 
eral Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and 
Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; 

•^“^To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; 

i^^^To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among 
the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; 

■^^^To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uni¬ 
form Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the 
United States; 

■^^^To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign 
Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; 

^‘^^To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the 
Securities and current Coin of the United States; 

To establish Post Offices and post Roads; 

■^^^To promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, by 
securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclu¬ 
sive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; 

■^^^To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; 

To define and punisUPiracies and Felonies committed on 
the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; 

■^“^To declare War, grant letters of Marque and Reprisal, 
and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; 

■^'-^To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of 
Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; 

'^’■‘^^To provide and maintain a Navy; 

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of 
the land and naval Forces; 

^^^^To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws 
of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions ; 




CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 193 


provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the 
Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be em¬ 
ployed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the 
States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the 
Authority of training the Militia according to the Discipline 
prescribed by Congress; 

exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, 
over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, 
by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Con¬ 
gress, become the Seat of the Government of the United 
States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased 
by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the 
Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, 
Dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings ; —And 

make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other 
Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. 

Section. 9. '^’^The Migration or Importation of such Persons 
as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, 
shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one 
thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may be 
imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for 
each Person. 

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the 
public Safety may require it. 

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 

No Capitation, or other direct. Tax shall be laid, unless 
in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before 
directed to be taken. 

'^^^No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from 
any State. 

[6] ]y[Q Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Com- 


194 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


merce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of 
another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be 
obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. 

Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Con¬ 
sequence of Appropriations made by Law ; and a regular State¬ 
ment and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all 
public Money shall be published from time to time. 

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States : 
And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under 
them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of 
any present. Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind what¬ 
ever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. 

Section, io. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, 
or Confederation ; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin 
Money ; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and 
silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of 
Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation 
of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. 

•^-^No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay 
any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what 
may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws : 
and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any 
State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the 
Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be sub¬ 
ject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress. 

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any 
Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of 
Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another 
State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually 
invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of 
Delay. 

ARTICLE. II. 

Section, i. i^^^The executive Power shall be vested in a 
President of the United States of America. Lie shall hold his 


CUNSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. IQS 


Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the 
Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as fol¬ 
lows 

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legisla¬ 
ture thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the 
whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the 
State may be entitled in the Congress : but no Senator or Rep¬ 
resentative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under 
the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

* The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and 
vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not 
be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And 
they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the 
Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and cer¬ 
tify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the 
United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The 
President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the 
7 otes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest 
Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a 
Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if 
there be more than one who have such Majority and have an 
equal number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall 
immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if 
no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the 
List the said House shall in like manner chuse the President. 
But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by 
States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; a 
Quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Mem¬ 
bers from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the 
States shall be necessary to a choice. In every Case, after the 
Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number 

* This clause has been superseded by the I2th amendment, on page 8o. 


196 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if 
there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the 
Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President. 

“^^^The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the 
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; 
which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

[ 5 ] No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of 
the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitu¬ 
tion, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall 
any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained 
to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resi¬ 
dent within the United States. 

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or 
of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers 
and Duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the 
Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the 
Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of the 
President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then 
act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until 
the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

•^'^The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his ser¬ 
vices, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor 
diminished during the Period for which he shall have been 
elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other 
Emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall 
take the following Oath or Affirmation : — 

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully exe- 
cute the Office of President of the United States, and will to 
the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Con- 
“ stitution of the United States.” 

Section. 2. >^^^The President shall be Commander in Chief 
of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia 
of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the 





CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 197 


United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the 
principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon 
any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, 
and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for 
Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeach¬ 
ment. 

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Con¬ 
sent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the 
Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and 
with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Am¬ 
bassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the 
supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, 
whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and 
which shall be established by Law : but the Congress may by 
Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they 
think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or 
in the Heads of Departments. 

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that 
may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Com¬ 
missions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. 

Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their 
Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both 
Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement be¬ 
tween them, with Respect to the time of Adjournment, he may 
adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall 
receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take 
Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commis¬ 
sion all the officers of the United States. 

Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Offi¬ 
cers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Im¬ 
peachment for, and Conviction of. Treason, Bribery, or other 
high Crimes and Misdemeanors. 


98 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


ARTICLE. III. 

Section, i. The Judicial Power of the United States, shall 
be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as 
the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The 
Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold 
their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, 
receive for their Services, a Compensation which shall not be 
diminished during their Continuance in Office. 

Section. 2. ‘^^^The Judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, 
in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws 
of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under their x\uthority ; — to all Cases affecting Ambassa¬ 
dors, other public Ministers and Consuls ; — to all Cases of ad¬ 
miralty and maritime Jurisdiction; — to Controversies to which 
the United States shall be a Party; — to Controversies between 
two or more States; — between a State and Citizens of another 
State ; — between Citizens of different States, — between Citi¬ 
zens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different 
States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign 
States, Citizens or Subjects. 

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers 
and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the 
surpreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the 
other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have 
appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Ex¬ 
ceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall 
make. 

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, 
shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State 
where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when 
not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place 
or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. . 

Section. 3. Treason against the United States, shall con- 


CONSTITUTION' OF THE UNITED STATES. 


199 


sist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their 
Enemies, giving them x^id and Comfort. No Person shall 
be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two 
Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open 
Court. 

^“^The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment 
of Treason, but no x\ttainder of Treason shall work Corruption 
of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person 
attainted. 

ARTICLE. IV. 

Section, i. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each 
State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of 
every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws 
prescribe the Manner in which such x^cts. Records, and Pro¬ 
ceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section. 2. '^’^The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to 
all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or 
other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another 
State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State 
from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State 
having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

[3] ]s^Q Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under 
the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence 
of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Ser¬ 
vice or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party 
to whom such Service or Labour may be due. 

Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress 
into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected 
within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be 
formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, 
without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned 
as well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 


200 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other 
Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims 
of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State 
in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall pro¬ 
tect each of them against Invasion, and on Application of the 
Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot 
be convened) against domestic Violence. 

ARTICLE. V. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem 
it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, 
on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the sev¬ 
eral States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, 
which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, 
as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of 
three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three 
fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification 
may be proposed by the Congress ; Provided that no Amend¬ 
ment which may be made prior to the Year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth 
Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no 
State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage 
in the Senate. 

ARTICLE. VI. 

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before 
the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
United States under this Constitution, as under the Confeder¬ 
ation. 

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which 
shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every 


CONSTlTUrrON OF THE UNITED STATES. 201 


State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or 
Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

■^^^^The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and 
the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive 
and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the sev¬ 
eral States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support 
this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required 
as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United 
States. 


ARTICLE. VII. 


The Ratification of the Conveiitions of nine States, shall be 
sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the 
States so ratifying the Same. 

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States 
present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of 
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven 
and of the Independence of the United States of America 
the Twelfth. In Witness whereof We have hereunto 
subscribed our Names, 


Cx" WASHINGTON — 


Presidt and deputy from Virginia 


John Langdon 


NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Nicholas Gilman 


Nathaniel Gorham 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

Rufus King 


CONNECTICUT. 


Wm Saml Johnson 


Roger Sherman 


NEW YORK. 


Alexander Hamilton 


NEW JERSEY. 


WiL Livingston 
Wm Paterson 


David Brearley 
J oNA Dayton 


AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION, 


202 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


B Franklin 


Thomas Mifflin 

Robt Morris 


Geo Clymer 

Tho Fitzsimons 


Jared Ingersoll 

James Wilson 


Gouv Morris 


DELAWARE. 

Geo Read 


Gunning Bedford, Jun’r 

John Dickinson 


Richard Basseti' 

Jaco BroOxM 

MARYLAND. 

James M’Henry 


Dan of St Thos Jenifer 

Dane Carroll 

VIRGINIA. 

John Blair 


James Madison, Jr 


NORTH 

CAROLINA. 

Wm Blount 


Rich’d Dobbs Spaight 

Hu Williamson 

SOUTH 

CAROLINA. 

J Rutledge 


Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 

Charles Pinckney 


Pierce Butler 


GEORGIA. 

William Few 


Abr Baldwin 


Attest: WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 


Articles in Addition to, and Amendment of, the 
Constitution of the United States of America, 

Proposed by Congress, atid ratified by the Legislatures of the 
several States, pursuatit to the fifth article of the original 
Cotistitution, 

(ARTICLE 1.) 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 


203 


the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the peo¬ 
ple peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a 
redress of grievances. 

(ARTICLE II.) 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a 
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall 
not be infringed. 

(ARTICLE III.) 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, 
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

(ARTICLE IV.) 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon prob¬ 
able cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly 
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things 
to be seized. 

(ARTICLE V.) 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 
Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, 
or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or pub¬ 
lic danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence 
to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be com¬ 
pelled in any Criminal Case to be a witness against himself, nor 
be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without 
just compensation. 

(ARTICLE VI.) 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and j)ublic trial, by an impartial jury of the State 
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which 


204 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be 
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be con¬ 
fronted with the witnesses against him ; to have Compulsory 
process for obtaining Witnesses in his favour, and to have the 
Assistance of Counsel for his defence. 

(ARTICLE VII.) 

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be pre¬ 
served, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined 
in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of 
the common law. 

(ARTICLE VIII.) 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im¬ 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

(ARTICLE IX.) 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or* disparage others retained by the 
people. 

(ARTICLE X.) 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con¬ 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
States respectively, or to the people. 

(ARTICLE XL) 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be con¬ 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of an¬ 
other State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 

(ARTICLE XII.) 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at 


AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 205 


least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with them¬ 
selves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as 
President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice- 
President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted 
for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, 
and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign 
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of 
the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; — 
The President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the 
votes shall then be counted ; — The person having the greatest 
number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of Electors ap¬ 
pointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the 
persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the 
list of those voted for as President, the House of Representa¬ 
tives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But 
in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, 
the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from 
two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be 
necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives 
shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall 
devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next follow¬ 
ing, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case 
of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. 
— The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-Pres¬ 
ident, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority 
of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person 
have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, 
the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the 
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of 
Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be neces¬ 
sary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to 


2o6 amendments to the constitution 


the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President 
of the United States. 

(ARTICLE XIII.) 

Section i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been 
duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place 
subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sect. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 

(ARTICLE XIV.) 

Section i. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of 
the United States, and of the State wherein they reside. No 
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the 
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor 
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property 
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Sect. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the 
several States, according to their respective numbers, counting 
the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians 
not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the 
choice of electop for president and vice-president of the United 
States, representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial 
officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is 
denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being 
twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in 
any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other 
crimes, the basis of representation shall be reduced in the pro¬ 
portion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to 
the whole number of male citizens, twenty-one years of age, in 
such State. 

Sect. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in 


AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 20/ 


Congress, or elector of president or vice-president, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States or under any 
State, who having previously taken an oath as a member of 
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member 
of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of 
any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall 
have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or 
given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress 
may by a vote of two-thirds of each house remove such disa¬ 
bility. 

Sect. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen¬ 
sions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or 
rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United 
States, nor any State, shall assume or pay any debt or obliga¬ 
tion incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the 
United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any 
slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held 
illegal and void. 

Sect. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by appio- 
priate legislation the provisions of this article. 

(ARTICLE XV.) 

Section i. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any 
State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servi¬ 
tude. 

Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this arti¬ 
cle by appropriate legislation. 


INDEX. 


Agriculture, Department of, 133. 
Aldermen, 28. 

Alaska, 169. 

Amendments to U. S. Constitu¬ 
tion, 149, 155. 

Annexation of Texas, 167. 
Auditor, County, 30. 

Articles of Confederation, 63. 
Assessors, County, 31. 

Assessors of Taxes, 21. 
Attorney, District, 31. 

Bankruptcies, 92. 

Battle of Quebec, 58. 

Boundary, Spanish, 166. 

Bureau of Education, 129. 

Bureau of Indian Affairs, 128. 

Charges d’Affaires, 114. 
Chairman, 179. 

Cheap Postage, 122. 

Cities, 26. 

City Council, 28. 

City Government, 26. 

Clerk, 179. 

Coast Survey, 116. 
Commissioners, Road, 23. 
Committees, 182. 

Coin Money, 93. 

Congress, 75. 


Congress, Powers of, 88. 
Congress, Sessions of, 86. 
Consuls, 113. 

Committee, School, 22. 
Confederation, Articles of, 63. 
Confederation, Plan of, 65. 
Confederation, Weakness of 
Articles of, 164. 

Contest for Supremacy, 56. 
Continental Congress, Second, 
62. 

Convention, Federal, 66. 

Contest of the Kings, 55. 
Continental Congress, First, 61. 
Coroner, 3. 

Counties, 29. 

County Auditor, 30. 

County Commissioners, 29. 
County Courts 50. 

County Treasurer, 30. 

Courts, Police, 50. 

Court, Probate, 50. 

Court, Supreme, 50. 

Dates of Ratification, (Constitu¬ 
tion U. S.,) 72. 

Deeds, Recorder of, 30. 

Deeds, Registrar of, 30. 
Delegates, Territorial, 79. 
Department of Agriculture, 133 
208 



INDEX. 


Department of Justice, 129. 
Department of State, 113. 
Department of Navy, 118. 
Discovery of Gold, 167. 
Distributing Post Offices, 121. 
District Attorney, 31. 

Duties on Imports, 90. 

Education, 32. 

Election by the House (Presi¬ 
dent), 107. 

Election of Officers, 178. 
Electors, Number of, 104. 
Electors, Presidential, 103. 
Electors, Time of Choosing, 
105. 

Electors Vote, 105. 

English Settlements, 56. 
Executive Department, National, 
loi, 112. 

Executive Department, State, 
44 - 

Executive Officers, 48. 

Federal Convention, 66. 
Fifteenth Amendment, 158. 

First Continental Congress, 61. 
Florida, Purchase of, 166. 
Formation of a Society, 173. 
Form of a Constitution, 175. 
Form of Minutes, 180. 
Fourteenth Amendment, 156. 
French Settlements, 56. 

Gold, Discovery of, 167. 
Governor, 44. 

“ Term of Office, 45. 

“ Qualifications, 45. 


209 

Governor, Powers and Duties, 
45 - 

Growth of Our Country, 163. 

Highway Surveyors, 23. 

House, Officers of, 79. 

House of Representatives, Na¬ 
tional, 76. 

House of Representatives, State, 
42. 

Impeachment, 80, in. 
Impeachments, Trial of, 85. 
Imports, Duties on, 90. 

Indian Bureau, 128. 

Indian Schools, 128. 

Interior Department, 123. 

Judicial Department, National, 

137. 

Judicial Department, State, 49. 
Justices of the Peace, 49. 

Land Officer, 125. 

Law, the Making of, 43. 
Legislative Department, Na¬ 
tional, 75. 

Legislative Department, State, 

41 - 

Lieutenant-Governor, 47. 
Lighthouses, 116. 

Louisiana, Purchase of, 165. 

Making a Law, 43. 

Mayor, 27. 

Mexican Provinces, Purchase of, 
167. 

Minutes, Form of, 180. 



210 


INDEX. 


Ministers, Public, 113. 

Money and Banking, 130. 
Money, Coin, 93. 

Naturalization, 90. 

Naval Academy, 119. 

Navy, Department of, 118. 
National Element of Slow 
Growth, 75. 

New States, 146. 

Number of Electors, 104. 
Number of Representatives, 
National, 78. 

Officers, Election of, 178. 

Officers of House, National, 79. 
Officers of Senate, National, 85. 
Oregon Country, 168. 

Overseers of the Poor, 23. 

Pension Office, 125. 

Plan of the Confederation, 65. 
Police Courts, 50. 

Poor, Overseers of, 23. 

Post Office Department, 119, 
Powers of Congress, 88. 

Powers of President, 111. 
Powers, Various (Congress), 95. 
Present Condition of our Coun¬ 
try, 170. 

President, 179. 

Presiding Officer, National Sen¬ 
ate, 84. 

Presidential Electors, 103. 
Private Schools, 35. 

Probate Court, 50. 

Public Ministers and Consuls, 

113. 


Purchase of Florida, 166. 
Purchase of Mexican Provinces, 
167. 

Purchase of Louisiana, 165. 
Putting Constitution into Opera¬ 
tion, 159. 

Qualifications (National Senate), 
^84. 

Qualifications of President, 108. 
Qualifications, Representatives, 

^78. 

Quebec, Battle of, 58. 

Ratification (Constitution U.S.), 
Dates of, 72. 

Recorder of Deeds, 30. 
Recording Secretary, 179, 
Registrar of Deeds, 30. 

Report of Committee, 175. 
Representatives, House of (Na¬ 
tional), 76. 

Representatives, Qualifications 
of, 78. 

Representatives, Number of, 78. 
Republican Government, 148. 
Restrictions upon National Gov¬ 
ernment, 97. 

Restrictions upon States, 97. 
Road Commissioners, 23.“ 

Rules of Procedure, 173. 

Salary of President, in. 

Salary, Senators and Represen¬ 
tatives, 87. 

School Commissioner, 31. 

School Committee, 22. 

School Superintendent, 31. 



INDEX. 


21 I 


Second Continental Congress, 
62. 

Secretary, 179. 

Selectmen, 20. 

Senate (National), 81. 

Senate (State), 42. 

Senators, How Chosen, 82. 
Settlements, French, 56. 

Sessions of Congress, 86. 
Settlements, English, 56, 

Sheriff, 3. 

Size of Additions to U. S., 168. 
Slow Growth of National Ele¬ 
ment, 75. 

Spanish Boundary, 166. 

Spanish Settlements, 55. 

State Governments, 39. 
Superintendent of Schools, 31. 
Supremacy, Contest for, 56. 
Supreme Court, 50. 

Supreme Law of the Land, 150. 
Supreme Moment in N. A , 57. 
Surveyors, Highway, 23. 

“ Sweeping Clause,” 95. 

Taxes, Assessors of, 21. 
Territories, 147. 


Territorial Delegates, 79. 

Texas, Annexation, 167. 
Thirteenth Amendment, 156. 
Time of Choosing Electors, 105. 
Town, the, 17. 

Town Clerk, 19. 

Town Officers, 18. 

Town Treasurer, 20. 

Treason, 140. 

Treasurer, 181. 

Treasurer, County, 30. 

Treasury Department, 115. 
Treasury Notes, 132. 

Trial of Impeachments, 85. 

Various Powers (Congress), 95. 
Vice-President, 109. 
Vice-President elected by Senate, 
108. 

War Department, 117. 

Warrant for Town Meeting, 24. 
Weakness of Articles of Con¬ 
federation, 164. 

Weights and Measures, 94. 

West Point, 117. 

Whole Country at Present, 169. 














/^’vvv.yveV'.a.Ka. 


Landmarks "r /Ai NNCSOTA 














































ELEMENTS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

4 

OF THE 

STATE OF MINNESOTA 


WITH A 

BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE POLITICAL 
HISTORY OF THE STATE 


DESIGNED FOR USE AS A TEXT-BOOK IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE 
SCHOOLS, AND FOR SUPPLEMENTARY READING 


BY 

T. H. KIRK, M.L. ' 

i. 

Assistant State Superintendent of Public Instruction 



SILVER, BURDETT & CO., PUBLISHERS 


New York 


BOSTON 


Chicago 


Copyright, 1892, 

By silver, BURDETT & CO 


Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston. 


Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston. 



PREFACE. 


Americans revere the fathers of the Republic, and are 
never weary in telling of their great deeds. They speak, 
too, with enthusiasm of the thirteen original colonies and 
the states that grew out of them. All this is very proper; 
but we must not forget that heroic deeds, noble men, and 
typical forms of government belong quite as much to the 
present as to the past. Indeed, the people of the future will 
look back to our day with admiration, as we now look back 
, to an older past. It is surely a good thing, from whatever 
I standpoint viewed, to study the forms of government which 
j now exist, and which one finds round about him. Besides, 
nobody can be an intelligent Citizen who does not do this. 
Above all, one should be familiar with the forms of govern- 
; ment in his own state and community. It is for these 
reasons, in fact, that this brief outline of the state and local 
governments of Minnesota has been prepared. 

The plan of the book is historical. It takes us back to 
i a time when no government existed save that of savage 
. tribes, and leads us through a series of rapid changes to the 
civilization of the present. The government of Minnesota 
Territory has been introduced because it was an important 
I step in this development, besides being of interest in itself. 


3 





4 


PREFACE. 


It has been the custom to confine the study of civil 
government almost entirely to the chief legislative, judicial, 
and executive functions. This, it seems to me, is a mistake; 
and in Chapters V. to VIII. inclusive place has been given 
to many things which every citizen ought to understand. 

Aside from a few sets of suggestive questions and black¬ 
board outlines, the method of teaching has been left to the 
good sense and experience of the teacher. 

So far as I know, this is the only special treatise on the 
civil government of Minnesota yet published, and I hope it 
may find its way into every school-house and home in the 

T. H. KIRK. 


St. Paul, June i, 1892. 


THE HISTORY AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT 


OF THE 

STATE OF MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER 1 . 

HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

The Unknown Land. — In 1643, Louis XIV., the 
great king of France, was but a child of five, and not 
old enough to understand about those wonders of the 
western world which at a later day attracted him. But, 
child as he was, his subjects knew little more about it 
than he. Nobody had thought that a great republic 
would one day exist there whose splendid achievements 
for human liberty and progress would win the admira¬ 
tion of mankind. That part of the New World now 
called Minnesota was an unknown land, and, like all 
the other unknown lands which the over-credulous 
people of that day imagined, it was a land of romance 
and fable, full of great rivers, powerful nations, and 
untold wealth. Indeed, just beyond it, they said, was 
the sea separating China from America. 

Early Explorers. — In 1634, Jean Nicolet, a bright, 
venturesome interpreter of a Canadian fur company, 

5 


6 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


visited the Indian tribes in what is now Wisconsin. It 
seems that he learned from them something about the 
Dakotas, or Sioux, who inhabited the region beyond the 
upper Mississippi. On his return to Canada, Nicolet 
told what he had heard about them. Later, in 1641, 
two French ensigns visited the Sault Ste. Marie and 
heard of this same nation, who were said to dwell 
eighteen days’ journey to the westward, at the head of 
a great river. Fifteen years after this, a half religious, 
half adventurous expedition from Quebec set out to 
find the Dakotas; but it was foiled by the hostile 
Iroquois, who massacred many of its members. The 
expedition of Groselliers and Radisson, two celebrated 
explorers, was more fortunate. In 1660, they coasted 
along the southern shore of Lake Superior and built a 
rude fort at the southern extremity of Chaqwamigon 
Bay. The following spring, a detachment of the garri¬ 
son ran across a party of wandering Dakotas and 
returned with them to their lodges on the western 
prairies. So far as known, these were the first white 
men to enter what is now called Minnesota. Before 
the end of the century, many noted explorers, among 
whom were Perrot, Du Luth, Le Sueur, and Father 
Hennepin, had traced the windings of its picturesque 
river valleys and penetrated both its prairie and forest 
regions. Forts were built on the lower Blue Earth 
River, on an island of the Mississippi, near the mouth of 
the St. Croix, and on the west shore of Lake Pepin. 

The Voyageurs. — Following closely in the footsteps 
of the explorers came the voyageurs, or rangers of the 
woods, as they were sometimes called. They were fur 
traders; and it was not long before the plash of their 


HISTORICAL SKETCH. 


7 


paddles was heard on every stream, and their songs in 
every thicket, as they wandered from one Indian village 
to another in search of pelts. They might be called 
the forerunners of civilization, but they were not truly 
a part of it. Upon entering the woods they threw off 
civil restraints, and counted themselves law-abiding in 
simply keeping their agreements with the fur com¬ 
panies and owning allegiance to the king of France. 

The French Supremacy. — For the first sixty-three 
years of the eighteenth century the French remained 
masters of the country they had explored. It was with 
them a time of varying fortunes,—of successes and 
failures in extending the fur trade, of hopeless searches 
for a northwest passage by way of a “mighty” river 
supposed to enter the western sea, of warfare with 
hostile tribes, and of movements to resist the encroach¬ 
ments of the English, who too were seeking for com¬ 
mercial profit and a greater empire. 

The English Supremacy. — After the nine years’ strug¬ 
gle of the French and Indian War, by the treaty of 1763 
the English became the nominal masters of that part of 
the Northwest lying east of the Mississippi. But the 
French, nevertheless, continued to be its actual masters. 
The Indians had always looked upon the French with 
favor, and through the friendships and intermarriages of 
a century had also come to think of them as their own 
kindred. The sharp-witted Frenchmen had no difficulty 
therefore in leading the Indians to distrust the good 
intentions of the English, who came with offers of trade 
and friendship. The result was, the English did not 
find it worth while to build military and trading posts 
west of Mackinaw; and the only explorer of note who 


8 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OE MINNESOTA. 


represented them was the self-appointed Jonathan 
Carver, who, in the fall of 1766, visited the region about 
St. Anthony Falls and made a partial ascent of the 
Minnesota or St. Peter’s River. 

The Dawn of a New Nation. — It was not long after 
the events narrated that a new nation entered the field 
of military and social conquest. Twenty years after 
the English had acquired possession of the Northwest, 
they yielded it to their revolted colonies now styled the 
United States of America. But just as the French 
had withstood the English occupation of the country, 
the English themselves annoyed their former American 
subjects, who with native energy were now endeavoring 
to open it for trade and settlement. 

Military Expeditions. — To check the boldness of 
the British fur traders, and to restrain the tribes made 
hostile by their false statements about the purposes of 
the Americans, it became necessary to overawe both by 
a show of military strength. As a first step in this 
direction. General Zebulon M. Pike was sent out in the 
year 1805 with a small detachment of soldiers. His ex¬ 
plorations extended as far north as Leech Lake. 

In 1817, Major Stephen H. Long made a cursory sur¬ 
vey to find a suitable site for a fort. Two years later 
Colonel Leavenworth established Cold Water Canton¬ 
ment at Mendota; and in 1820 Fort Snelling was built 
at the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. 

The Later Fur Traders. — The United States hav¬ 
ing thus asserted its authority, the Northwest and Hud¬ 
son Bay Fur Companies, so long masters of trade under 
British protection, now confined their operations for the 
most part to the British Possessions, and the American 


HISTORICAL SKETCH. 


9 - 


and Columbia Companies took active possession of the 
deserted field. By this time the Indians had become 
less self-reliant. The fruits of the chase no longer 
satisfied them, and they depended more and more upon 
the whites for the necessaries of life. It will be easy to 
understand then how the system of barter which sprang 
up between them and the fur companies paved the way 
for the entrance of civilization into their ancient domain, 
and at the same time made them familiar with its ordi¬ 
nary modes of domestic life. It is quite certain that in 
their first contact with it they saw more of its selfish 
than of its unselfish side. Their suspicions and hatred 
were often aroused, and these led to feuds which were 
not settled until after years of controversy and blood¬ 
shed. 

Commercial and Scientific Expeditions. — To estab¬ 
lish firmer relations with the tribes, to treat with them 
for cessions of their lands, and to determine to some 
extent the value of the region as a place of settlement, 
expeditions both of a commercial and scientific character 
were sent out by the national government. The first of 
the three most important ones was led by Lewis Cass, 
governor of Michigan. In 1820, it entered the country 
by way of the St. Louis River and explored toward the 
head waters of the Mississippi. The second, in 1823, 
was commanded by Major Stephen H. Long. It ex¬ 
plored the valleys of the Minnesota and Red rivers and 
the chain of rivers and lakes on the northern boundary. 
The third, led by Henry R. Schoolcraft in 1832, fol¬ 
lowed the route of Cass, but penetrated the country as 
far as Lake Itasca. Thence it journeyed southward to 
Fort Snelling, and, finally, ascended the St. Croix. 


10 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


The Missionaries. — It was now two centuries after 
the time of Jean Nicolet, who, as above stated, had been 
the first to mention the Dakotas. But it would be an 
error to think that in all that period nobody had given 
heed to the welfare of the Indians. From the time of 
the earliest explorers, whose expeditions they accom¬ 
panied, devoted Catholic priests with little regard for 
profits of trade and political power, both of which ab¬ 
sorbed their companions, were earnest in their efforts 
to benefit the tribes socially and religiously. With the 
same interest and earnestness, the first Protestant mis¬ 
sionary, W. T. Boutwell, came with the Schoolcraft 
expedition and remained to teach among the Ojibwas of 
Leech Lake. A year later, that is in 1833, two brothers, 
Samuel W. and Gideon H. Pond, established the Mis¬ 
sion of Lake Calhoun. In 1836, Dr. Thomas S. William¬ 
son and party established the Mission of Lac qui Parle, 
and the following year they were joined by Stephen R. 
Riggs and wife. There were other faithful missionaries 
in neighboring fields, but the names of these, after years 
of toil and danger, became pre-eminently historic. 

First Settlements. — Previous to 1826, if we except 
the traders of St. Peter’s, or Mendota, there were no 
permanent inhabitants in what is now Minnesota. In 
the summer of that year the first real settlement was 
made near P'ort Snelling by a few Swiss farmers who 
had fled from the hardships of the Selkirk colony. 
Gradually others followed them. In 1840, the good 
Father Lucian Galtier built the chapel of St. Paul 
where the flourishing city of that name is now situated ; 
but three years later there were probably not more than 
twenty families belonging to the little village that sur- 


HISTORICAL SKETCH. 


11 

rounded the chapel. At St. Anthony Falls a small 
grist and lumber mill and a few cabins were the nucleus 
of the progressive city of Minneapolis, now the metropo¬ 
lis. Indeed, in the great region surrounding these min¬ 
iature cities there were at the outside not more than a 
few hundred inhabitants. 

Territorial Jurisdiction. — If the Minnesota region 
lacked civilized inhabitants, it had no lack of rulers. 
After the Revolution and before the first half of the 
nineteenth century had passed, that part of Minnesota 
lying east of the Mississippi was controlled successively 
by the Northwest Territory, Indiana Territory, Illinois 
Territory, Michigan Territory, and Wisconsin Terri¬ 
tory ; and the part west by Louisiana Province, Louis¬ 
iana District, Louisiana Territory, Missouri Territory, 
Michigan Territory, Wisconsin Territory, and Iowa 
Territory. Of course the jurisdiction of these various 
territories was not very rigid. It could not be in a 
country so vast and wild, whose only roads were Indian 
trails, or at best water courses traversed in winter by dog 
trains and in summer by canoes. Only now and then a 
United States marshal appeared to vindicate the maj¬ 
esty of the law; and no doubt many a crime was com¬ 
mitted which the desolate plains and the deep, silent 
forests never revealed. 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


12 


CHAPTER 11 . 

BEGINNINGS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. 

Wisconsin Territory. — In 1848, Wisconsin as now 
bounded was admitted to the Union. Its admission 
apparently left a large portion of its former territory 
without a government; namely, that part of it situated 
west of the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers. This was 
denied by Governor Catlin and others, who claimed that 
the government of Wisconsin Territory was still intact 
and that its domain was the country excluded from the 
newly admitted state. But it was evident that the peo¬ 
ple were not satisfied with this view of things; and 
they were active in their endeavors to secure a new 
territorial organization. At this time the total popula¬ 
tion was less than five thousand. While this seems a 
small number nowadays, it did not in the least win the 
people from their purpose nor discourage their ambi¬ 
tions. It was this energy doubtless that brought their 
efforts to a speedy and successful conclusion and laid 
the foundation of a lasting prosperity for the new com¬ 
monwealth. 

The Organic Act. — A temporary government, styled 
the Territory of Minnesota, was established by act of 
Congress, March 3, 1849. Within its limits were in¬ 
cluded the present State of Minnesota and by far the 
larger part of the two Dakotas. It was such a great 


BEGINNINGS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. 


13 


Stretch of country that the United States very properly 
reserved the right to divide it at any time for the pur¬ 
pose of forming new territories or attaching portions of 
it to others already formed. This Organic Act, being 
typical of the organic acts of other territories, and 
being the foundation too of the more permanent gov¬ 
ernment of the State, deserves here a brief but careful 
review. 

The Executive. — The executive power was vested in 
a governor whose term of office was four years. But he 
was subject to removal at any time by the President of 
the United States. He was required to reside within 
the Territory, to act as commander-in-chief of the militia, 
to perform the duties of superintendent of Indian affairs, 
and to commission all officers appointed under the laws 
of the Territory. He had power to pardon offenses 
against the laws of the Territory, and to grant reprieves 
for offenses against those of the United States subject 
to the final decision of the President. 

The Secretary. —The next in power to the governor 
was the secretary. His tenure of office was like the 
governor’s as to length of time and removal. He was 
required to record all executive acts and proceedings of 
the governor, and to record and preserve all laws and 
proceedings of the Legislative Assembly. Moreover, 
he was required to send copies of the executive proceed¬ 
ings and legislative enactments to the President of the 
United States, the president of the Senate, and the 
speaker of the House of Representatives. Finally, in 
case of the absence, death, removal, or resignation of 
the governor, he was to become temporarily the chief 
executive officer of the Territory. 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


H 


The Legislative Assembly. — The legislative power 
was vested in the governor and a legislative assembly. 
This legislative assembly consisted of two bodies desig¬ 
nated the Council and House of Representatives. At 
first, the Council had nine members, whose term of 
office was two years, and the House of Representatives 
eighteen members, whose term was one year. 

All members were required to have the qualifications 
prescribed for voters. No person, save a postmaster, 
holding a commission or office under the United States 
could be a member of the Legislature, or hold any other 
office under the Territory. Neither could a member 
hold during his term or the year succeeding it an office 
created during said term or whose salary had been 
increased within the same. 

Both houses could be increased in proportion to the 
growth of population, save that the number of coun¬ 
cillors could not exceed fifteen and the number of rep¬ 
resentatives thirty-nine. The Territory was divided into 
election districts corresponding to the two classes of 
legislators, and it was required that each legislator 
should be a resident of the district he was elected to 
represent. No session of the legislative assembly could 
extend beyond sixty days. 

The legislative power extended to all subjects con¬ 
sistent with the Constitution of the United States, but 
it was specified that no law should be passed to inter¬ 
fere with the primary disposal of the soil, to tax the 
property of non-residents more than that of residents, 
and to tax the property of the United States. Besides, 
all laws were subject to the veto of Congress. 

All bills passed by the Legislative Assembly had to 


BEGINNINGS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. 


5 


be submitted to the governor for his approval or veto, 
but they could be passed over his veto by a two-thirds 
majority of both houses. In such a case, members were 
required to vote by yeas and nays, and their votes were 
entered upon the journals of the Assembly. 

If the governor did not return a bill within three days, 
Sundays excepted, it became a law without his signa¬ 
ture, provided the adjournment of the Assembly did not 
prevent its return within the time specified. 

The Courts.—The judicial power of the Territory 
was vested in four kinds of courts; namely, justice 
courts, probate courts, district courts, and a supreme 
court. Both the appellate and original jurisdiction of 
these courts was to be defined by statute law, save in 
certain cases hereafter mentioned, and save that the 
jurisdiction of the supreme and district courts should 
be allowed to extend to cases both in common law and 
chancery. 

Supreme Court. —The supreme court had a chief and 
two associate justices, any two of whom constituted a 
quorum. Their tenure of office was four years; and 
they were allowed to appoint a clerk for the court and 
dismiss him at pleasure. This court was required to 
hold a term annually at the seat of government. Its 
jurisdiction extended to writs of error, bills of exception, 
and appeals, from the district courts, but. it was not 
allowed to conduct trials by jury. Writs of error and 
appeals from its decisions could be made to the su¬ 
preme court of the United States when the value of the 
controversy was not less than a thousand dollars. It 
was required that the regulations of the circuit courts of 
the United States should be followed in all such appeals. 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


l6 


District Courts.—The Territory was divided into 
three judicial districts. In each of these a district 
court, over which one of the justices of the supreme 
court presided, was held at times and places prescribed 
by law ; and the justice so presiding was required to 
live within the district. Each district court appointed 
a person to act as clerk and as register in chancery, and 
he was required to keep office at the place where the 
court was regularly held. The jurisdiction of the dis¬ 
trict courts extended to cases under the laws of the 
Territory, and in all cases under the laws and Constitu¬ 
tion of the United States its jurisdiction was the same 
as that of the circuit and district courts of the United 
States. The first six days of every session of a district 
court, or such part of them as was needed for the pur¬ 
pose, was required to be devoted to such cases under 
the United States Constitution and laws. 

Minor Courts.—Justice courts were for the trial of 
petty cases; but no justice court could hear cases 
respecting the title and boundary of land, nor any 
involving a money value exceeding a hundred dol¬ 
lars. 

Probate courts served the same purposes as now 
under the state. 

Attorney and Marshal. — The chief officers of the 
courts were an attorney and a marshal. The term of 
each was four years. It was the duty of the attorney to 
advise the executive officers and to act as counsel in all 
cases in which the Territory was a party ; and the mar¬ 
shal was required to serve all processes of the district 
courts when acting as district and circuit courts of the 
United States. 


BEGINNINGS OF SELF-GOVERA\MEA'T. 


7 


Appointment of Territorial Officers. — The governor, 
chief justice, associate justices, attorney, and marshal 
were appointed by the President and confirmed by the 
Senate of the United States ; and all had to make oath 
or affirmation that they would faithfully discharge their 
duties and uphold the Constitution of the United 
States. 

All local officers, township, county, and district, were 
to be appointed or elected in whatever manner the gov¬ 
ernor and Legislative Assembly should provide. 

Delegate to Congress. — Provision was made for the 
election of a delegate to the House of Representatives 
of the United States ; and he was to have the powers 
and privileges accorded to delegates from other terri¬ 
tories. His term of office was two years. 

Right of Suffrage. — Every male inhabitant of Minne¬ 
sota Territory, having come to reside in it before the 
passage of the Organic Act, was allowed to vote at 
the first election and was eligible to any office within 
the Territory provided he was free, white, and twenty- 
one or more years of age. Thereafter qualifications of 
voters and eligibility to office were to be determined by 
the Legislative Assembly, save that none but citizens 
of the United States or those who had taken oath to 
become such were then qualified or eligible. 

Education. — One of the most important sections of 
the Organic Act made provision for the support of 
education. It required that sections sixteen and thirty- 
six of each township, when surveyed, should be set 
aside for the benefit of the public schools, no matter 
to what territory or state the township might finally 
belong. 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


Transition. — Such was the machin.ery of govern¬ 
ment provided for the Territory of Minnesota, but some¬ 
thing else was required to set it in motion ; namely, a 
plan of transition from the government of Wisconsin 
Territory to that of the new, which would work neither 
a temporary nor a lasting injury to any citizen. The 
plan adopted was this : — 

1. All individual and social rights and privileges not inconsistent 
with the Organic Act were to continue, subject to change at a 
proper time. 

2. All pending judicial proceedings, of whatever nature, civil or 
criminal, were to be transferred to the new district courts. 

3. No statutes existing for the new territory, all infractions 
under the laws of the old were subject to trial and punishment in 
the courts of the new. 

4. All bonds and obligations of every character remained valid. 

5. All judicial and ministerial officers, such as justices of the 
peace, constables, and sheriffs, were to continue in power until pro¬ 
vision could be made for the appointment or election of their suc¬ 
cessors. 

6. The governor was granted power to establish the judicial dis¬ 
tricts^ to assign the judges thereto, and to determine the times and 
places of holding courts within the same, all until the Legislative 
Assembly, to whom the power permanently belonged, could act or 
should see fit to act. 

7. The first meeting of the Legislative Assembly was to be at St. 
Paul, at which time it was to fix upon a temporary seat of govern¬ 
ment pending the establishment of a permanent seat by popular 
election. 

8. Finally, financial provision was made for the building of a 
capitol and the purchase of a library for the use of the judicial and 
executive officers of the Territory. 


ORGANIZING THE STATE. 


9 


CHAPTER III. 

ORGANIZING THE STATE. 

Progress. — Less than eight years after the establish¬ 
ment of Minnesota Territory it was seeking admission 
to the Union. By this time the population had multi¬ 
plied thirty-fold. Many farms had been opened up in 
the Big Woods and upon the adjacent prairies. Title to 
large tracts of Indian lands had been secured, and other 
settlers were entering to possess them. Numerous flour¬ 
ishing settlements had sprung up in the river valleys 
and elsewhere. Commerce, too, was active on the navi¬ 
gable streams. 

The Enabling Act. — P'ebruary 26, 1857, Congress 
passed an act preliminary to the admission of Minne¬ 
sota to the Union. The Enabling Act, as it is called, 
after having defined the boundaries of the State as at 
present, provided for the calling of a constitutional con¬ 
vention, the taking of a census to determine the repre¬ 
sentation in Congress, and the disposing of public land 
for the support of education and internal improvements. 

The State Constitution. — The first Monday in June 
the delegates were chosen to the convention, and at 
midnight the beginning of the second Monday in July 
they met in the Capitol at St. Paul. The unusual hour 
of meeting was due to a struggle for supremacy in 
organization between the Republican and Democratic 


20 


CIVIL GOVERiXMEXT OF MIXXESOTA. 


wings. They could not agree, however, at this time, 
and separated. The result was, two rival conventions 
were organized. But later, harmony having been re¬ 
stored through compromises, they agreed upon the 
same constitution August 29. In this final form it 
contained fifteen Articles and a Schedule, as follows : — 

Article /. is a bill of rights, and provides for the alteration, modifi¬ 
cation, and reform of government, at any time deemed necessary; 
against slavery, disfranchisement, and involuntary servitude, save 
by process of law and for the punishment of crime; for the liberty 
of the press and freedom of speech ; for trial by jury in civil cases ; 
against excessive bail and cruel punishments; for juries, witnesses, 
and counsel in criminal cases ; for indictments by grand jury, the 
granting of bail, and maintaining the privilege of habeas corpus ; 
for remedy on account of injury to person, property, or character; 
against conviction for treason, save on proper testimony of wit¬ 
nesses ; against unreasonable search ; against bills of attainder and 
ex post facto against imprisonment for debt; for the exemp¬ 

tion of a reasonable amount of property from seizure for debt; 
against taking private property for public use without compen¬ 
sation ; for subordinating the military to the civil power; against 
feudal tenures, and prolonged leases and grants of agricultural 
lands; against religious and property tests as qualifications for 
holding office or the exercise of sufirage: and, finally, for the 
maintenance of rights inherent in the people, but not mentioned in 
the Constitution itself. 

Article II. names the State and defines its boundaries. 

Article III. distributes the powers of government as legislative, 
executive, and judicial. 

Article IJ\ sets fortli the nature and powers of the legislati\’e 
department. 

Article V . names the officers of the executive department, and 
prescribes their powers, duties, and manner of election. 

At'ticle VI. deals with the courts and judges of the judiciary 
department. 

Article VII. states the extent and limitations of the elective 
franchise. 


ORGA.V/Z/NG THE STATE. 


21 


Article VIII. provides for the establishment and support of a 
public school system, including the State University. 

Article IX. is devoted to state finances, banks, and bankins:. 

Article X. deals with corporations that do not have banking 
privileges. 

Article XI. treats of the organization of counties and townships. 

Article XII. makes it the duty of the Legislature to pass laws for 
organizing and disciplining the militia. 

Article XIII. provides for impeachments and removals from 
office. 

Article XIV. shows in what manner the Constitution itself may 
be amended. 

Article XV. is a miscellany. It provides for a temporary seat of 
government at St. Paul; for extending privileges of citizenship and 
taxation to persons residing on Indian lands; for a uniform oath or 
affirmation : for a seal of the State; and for converting the territo¬ 
rial into a state prison. 

The Schedule. —Just as it had been necessary to pro¬ 
vide for the transition from a previously existing gov¬ 
ernment to that of Minnesota Territory, it was now 
necessary to provide a similar transition from the gov¬ 
ernment of Minnesota Territory to that of Minnesota 
State. The plan involved twenty-two specifications re¬ 
lating to various legislative, judicial, and executive 
affairs. These specifications formed what is called the 
Schedule. 

Ratification. — The Constitution was submitted to 
the people, and ratified October 13, 1857, by a vote of 
30,055 against 571, thus giving emphasis to the 

Preamble. lie, the people of the State of Minnesota, 
grateful to God for onr civil and religious liberty, and 
desiring to perpetuate its blessings and secure the same 
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution. 


22 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


Admission to the Union. — Congress finding the Con¬ 
stitution of Minnesota satisfactory, passed an act admit¬ 
ting the State May ii, 1858. By this act Minnesota 
was allowed two representatives in Congress, and con¬ 
stituted a judicial district of the United States district 
courts, with the necessary legal provisions for the ■ 
organization of such a court. 

Amendments. — During the thirty-five years that have 
elapsed since the Constitution was adopted, it has been 
amended in twenty-nine particulars. This shows how 
impossible it is to frame a constitution good for all 
time, and proves that to have been a wise clause in the 
Bill of Rights which reserves to the people the privi¬ 
lege of modifying their form of government when the 
changes of time imperatively demand it. 


ORGAN/Z/NG THE STATE. 


23 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further thought, 
reading, and study. 

1. What was known of the New World in the time of Louis 
XIV.? 

2. What was learned by Jean Nicolet? 

3. Who were the voyageurs, and what were their characteris¬ 
tics? 

4. What can you say about the French and English suprema¬ 
cies? 

5. Who led the first military expeditions into Minnesota, and 
what were the purposes of these expeditions? 

6. What were the characteristics of Indian life in the time of 
the later fur traders ? 

7. Describe the commercial and scientific expeditions. 

8. When, where, and by whom were the first missions estab¬ 
lished ? 

9. Who w'ere the first settlers? 

10. To what governments has the domain of Minnesota been 
subject? 

11. What was the Organic Act, and when was it passed? 

12. In whom was the legislative power of Minnesota Territory 
vested? The executive? The judicial? 

13. Mention some things that were required to change from the 
government of Wisconsin Territory to that of Minnesota. 

14. What w^as the Enabling Act, and when was it passed? 

15. When and under what circumstances was the Constitution 
of Minnesota adopted? 

16. How many articles does the Constitution contain, and of 
what does each treat? 

17. What was the Schedule? 

18. When and how decisively was the Constitution ratified? 

19. Repeat the Preamble to the Constitution. 

20. When was Minnesota admitted to the Union? 

21. How many times has the Constitution been amended? 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


STATE GOVERNMENT. 


THE LEGISLATURE. 


1. Members. 

2. Powers. 

3. Duties and Obligations. 

4. House. 


5. Privileges. 

6. Restrictions. 

7. Bills and Laws. 

8. Senate. 


THE EXECUTIVE. 


1. Governor. 

2. Lieutenant-Governor. 

3. Secretary of State. 


4. Auditor. 

5. Treasurer. 

6. Attorney-General. 


1. Supreme Court. 

2. District Courts. 

24 


THE JUDICIARY. 

3. Probate Courts. 

4. Justices of the Peace. 




DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERiWMENT. 


25 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 

Section I. — The Legislative Department. 

Having in the last chapter considered the Consti¬ 
tution as a whole, it is now the pupil’s task to take a 
particular view of the three principal departments of 
the state government; namely, the legislative, executive, 
and judicial. 

The Legislature.—The Legislature of Minnesota 
consists of two houses called the Senate and House of 
Representatives. Its sessions are biennial and each 
limited to ninety legislative days. But the days need 
not be consecutive, thus allowing necessary recesses. 
The number of members in each house is prescribed by 
law, and increases with the growth of population ; but 
the distribution of members throughout the State must 
be in proportion to the population of the different 
sections in order that all may be justly represented. 
This necessarily gives the Legislature the power, were 
it not specified as it is elsewhere in the Constitution, to 
set the bounds of the representative and senatorial dis¬ 
tricts. It also determines in like manner the bounds of 
congressional districts. In case of a vacancy in the 
membership of either house the governor is required to 
issue a writ calling for a special election to fill it. 


.26 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


Qualifications and Terms of Members. — A person to 
become a member of the Legislature must be a citizen, 
and immediately prior to his election must have been a 
resident of the State at least one year and his district 
six months. Before entering upon his duties he must 
make oath or affirmation to perform them faithfully and 
to uphold the Constitutions of the United States and 
the State of Minnesota. The term of a representative 
is two years ; of a senator, four. 

Powers. — Each house has power — 

1. To determine whether the qualifications and elections of its 
members are valid. 

2. To transact business when a majority of its members is present. 

3. To adjourn from day to day when only a minority of its mem¬ 
bers is present. 

4. To compel its members to attend. 

5. To determine its rules of business. 

6. To set its times of adjournment. 

7. To punish and expel members for disorderly conduct. 

8. To disfranchise, conjointly with the other house, persons con¬ 
victed of infamous crimes. 

9. To punish citizens for bad behavior in its presence. 

10. To elect United States senators conjointly with the other 
house. 

Duties and Obligations. — Each house must — 

1. Keep and publish a journal of its proceedings, and enter 
therein all votes taken by yeas and nays. 

2. Prescribe the manner of taking evidence when its seats are 
contested. 

3. Allow the public to attend its sessions save when secrecy is 
important. 

4. In all its elections vote viva voce and have such votes re- 
■ corded in its journal. 

5. Pass laws to prevent monopolies of the food and produce 
markets of the State. 



DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT, 2/ 

Privileges. — A person is exempt from arrest when 
going to or from the house of which he is a member or 
while attending its sessions. But this privilege does 
not apply in cases of felony, treason, or breach of the 
peace. Nor can a member be elsewhere called to ac¬ 
count for speech or debate in the Legislature. Two or 
more members may jointly protest against the passage 
of a resolution which they think injurious to individuals 
or the public in general, and have their protest recorded 
in the journal. 

Restrictions. — No member can be expelled twice for 
the same offense. Neither house can adjourn for more 
than three working days at a time ; nor to meet in any other 
place unless the other house consents. No member can 
receive an increase of compensation granted during his 
term. No member can hold office under the United 
States, save that of a postmaster. No money can be 
appropriated save by bill. No joint order, resolution, 
or vote is valid without the governor’s signature, save 
when carried over his veto by a two-thirds vote. No 
divorces can be granted. No lotteries can be author¬ 
ized. Finally, no special legislation is allowable in the 
following particulars: — 

“ 1st. For changing the name of a person, or constituting one 
person the heir-at-law of another. 

“ 2d. For laying out, opening or altering highways. 

“3d. For authorizing persons to keep ferries across streams 
wholly within this State. 

“4th. For authorizing the sale or mortgage of real or personal 
property of minors or other persons under disability. 

“ 5th. For changing any county seat. 

“ 6th. For assessment or collection of taxes, or for extending the 
time for the collection thereof. 


28 


C/V/L GOVERNMENT OE MINNESOTA. 


•‘7th. For granting corporate powers or privileges, except to 
cities. 

••8th. For authorizing the apportionment of any part of the 
school fund. 

‘•9th. For incorporating any town or village. 

•• loth. For granting to any individual, association, or corpora¬ 
tion, except municipal, any special or exclusive privilege, immunity, 
or franchise whatever. 

•• nth. For vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys, and public 
grounds.” 

These restrictions of special legislation were for the 
purpose of preventing local and class enactments which 
often worked injustice to the people at large besides 
being a burden upon the Legislature and a source of cor¬ 
ruption. All such matters are properly provided for 
under the general laWs of the State. 

The House of Representatives. — There are certain 
things peculiar to the House. It elects its own pre¬ 
siding officer. It originates all bills for the raising of 
revenue. It has the sole power of impeachment, but 
an impeachment requires the concurrence of a major¬ 
ity of its members. 

The Senate.—There are certain things, too, peculiar 
to the Senate. It cannot elect its presiding officer 
save as a president pro tempore, the lieutenant-governor, 
ex officio, being its regular president. It tries all im¬ 
peachments arising in the House, and in such cases its 
members are under oath or affirmation to act legally 
and justly. To convict, two-thirds of the senators 
must concur. 

Bills and Laws. — All laws of Minnesota must begin 
with the expression “ Be it enacted by the Legislature 
of the State of Minnesota.” No law can embrace more 





DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 29 

than one subject, and this subject must be expressed in 
its title. Unless under the suspension of rules, a bill 
must be read three times in each house on three differ¬ 
ent days. A majority of the full membership of each 
house is required to pass a bill, and the vote of each 
house upon the same must be recorded in its journal. 
Every bill that passes must be enrolled, and signed by 
the presiding officers of both houses. It is then neces¬ 
sary to present it to the governor for his signature. 
Should he refuse to sign it, a two-thirds majority of 
both houses may pass it over his veto. Or if he does 
not return it within three days, Sunday excepted, it 
becomes a law without his signature ; provided that 
its return is not prevented by the adjournment of the 
Legislature. No new bill can be introduced during the 
last twenty days of a session without the written con¬ 
sent of the governor. Nor can a bill be passed on the 
day of final adjournment. Nevertheless it may be en¬ 
rolled, signed, or transmitted from house to house or 
to the governor on that day. 


Section II. — The Executive Department. 

Executive Officers. — The principal executive officers 
of Minnesota are the governor, lieutenant-governor, 
secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and attorney- 
general, each serving two years, save the auditor, whose 
term is four. All are bound by oath or affirmation to 
perform their duties faithfully. 

Governor.—The governor must be at least twenty- 
five years of age. It is his duty to communicate with 
the Legislature from time to time, by message, relative 


30 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

to the welfare of the State. He is commander-in-chief 
of the military and naval forces of the State, and may 
call upon them to suppress insurrections. He has 
power within the State to grant reprieves and pardons 
after persons have been convicted, save in the case of 
impeachments. He appoints the state librarian, nota¬ 
ries public, and other officers that the law may designate. 
He has power to fill vacancies in elective offices until 
the next subsequent election, and in appointive offices 
until the next meeting of the Legislature. He may 
call extra sessions of the Legislature in cases of emer¬ 
gency. In all cases he must faithfully execute the 
laws. 

Lieutenant-Governor.—The lieutenant-governor is 
president of the Senate by virtue of his office, and is 
successor of the governor in case of a vacancy; and if 
for any re.ason his own office becomes vacant, the presi¬ 
dent pro te 7 npore of the Senate succeeds him. 

Secretary of State.—The secretary of state is the 
custodian of the state seal, laws, and documents. He 
issues state papers, such as proclamations, under the 
direction of the governor; and he records instruments 
formulated under the statutes, such as the articles of 
incorporation of stock companies. 

Auditor. — Just as the name implies, the auditor is 
the hearer — that is, of all financial claims against the 
State; and he issues warrants upon the state treasurer 
for the payment of those he deems valid. He computes 
the amount of appropriations necessary for the running 
expenses of the State, and when passed by the Legisla¬ 
ture levies them upon the taxable property of the State. 
He is ex officio land commissioner; and as such he has 


DEPARTMENTS OE STATE GOVERNMENT 3 I 

power to sell or lease, subject to law, the school, inter¬ 
nal improvement, and other lands belonging to the 
State. 

Treasurer. —The treasurer collects state taxes, inter¬ 
est on bonds held by the State; in short, moneys due it 
from whatever source. He pays interest on bonds 
issued by the State itself, distributes the funds of the 
state institutions and public schools, and pays on the 
warrant of the auditor any and all of the lawful obliga¬ 
tions of the State. To insure care and honesty, he is 
frequently required to make an exact statement of his 
receipts and disbursements, and the treasury is subject 
to periodic inspection by the governor, auditor, and sec¬ 
retary of state acting jointly. 

Attorney-General. — The attorney-general advises the 
Legislature and state officials upon all difficult points of 
law referred to him, and in such cases his opinions have 
the force of statute law, until set aside by decisions 
of the supreme court or further enactments of the Leg¬ 
islature. He is also prosecuting attorney or directing 
counsel in all cases to which the State is directly a 
party. 

Section HI.— Judicial Department. 

Courts. — The Constitution establishes a supreme 
court, district, probate, and justice courts, and provides 
that other inferior courts may be established by legisla¬ 
tive enactment. 

Supreme Court.—At present the supreme court con¬ 
sists of a chief justice and four associate justices. The 
term of each is six years. The court appoints a reporter 
to note its decisions and proceedings. It also has a 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


clerk who is elected by the people once in four years ; 
but in case of a vacancy in his office a majority of the 
justices have power to fill it. In certain remedial cases 
the court has original jurisdiction, and appellate juris¬ 
diction in all other cases, both as to law and equity. It 
sometimes happens that a majority or all of the justices 
are disqualified to try a case by reason of personal rela¬ 
tions to it. Under such circumstances, the governor 
or, if he too is party to it, the lieutenant-governor, 
appoints judges of the district court to serve ; and for 
the cases in dispute, they exercise the full power of 
justices of the supreme court. 

District Courts. — For judicial purposes the State is 
divided into districts, each having a court styled the 
district court. At present there are sixteen district 
courts in the State. Each district may have one or 
more judges, as prescribed by law, and elects its own 
judges for a term of six years. There are now twenty- 
eight district judges. A judge must reside in his dis¬ 
trict when elected, and continue to reside in it until his 
term expires. 

Each district court has a clerk in each county within 
its district. He is elected by the people of the county, 
and his term of service is four years. 

The district courts have original jurisdiction in civil 
cases when the amount in dispute exceeds a hundred 
dollars, and in criminal cases if the term of imprison¬ 
ment exceeds three months. Their appellate jurisdic¬ 
tion is prescribed by law. 

Probate Courts. — There is a probate court in each 
county. It has one judge elected by the people for a 
term of two years. He appoints his own clerk, but the 



DEPARTAIENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 33 

Legislature may at any time provide for the election of 
a clerk. The duties of a judge of probate include the 
settlement of estates, the appointment of guardians for 
minors and for adults mentally diseased, and the issuing 
of orders for the incorporation of cities. 

Justices of the Peace.—The Legislature determines 
the number of justices of the peace. At the present 
time there are two in each township or village, and two 
or more in each city. Save in certain cases, such as 
attachments of property, the jurisdiction of a justice 
court does not extend beyond the limits of the county 
in which it is situated. The jurisdiction of a justice of 
the peace does not extend to civil cases involving a 
money value greater than one hundred dollars, nor to 
criminal cases whose penalty is more than three months’ 
imprisonment. 

Miscellaneous Provisions. — The Constitution provides 
that the judges of the supreme and district courts 
"‘shall be men learned in the law ” ; that their compen¬ 
sation shall not be diminished during their terms; and 
that they shall receive no other fees or rewards. 

The judges of all other courts not mentioned above 
must be elected from the cities or counties for which 
the courts were created ; but a term of service cannot 
be greater than seven years without a new election. 

The justices of the supreme and district courts are 
not eligible to United States or other state offices. 

The Legislature can create new judicial districts and 
change the boundaries of old, but by so doing cannot 
dismiss a judge from office. 

A court commissioner, with the power of a district 
judge-at-chambers is elected for each county. 


34 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


All legal pleadings and proceedings begin, “The 
State of Minnesota” and end, “against the peace and 
dignity of the State of Minnesota.” 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further thought, 
reading, and study. 

1. How many houses are there in the Minnesota Legislature, 
and how are their memberships determined.^ 

2. What are the qualifications and terms of state senators and 
representatives ? 

3. State ten powers belonging to both houses. 

4. State five duties and obligations of both houses. 

5. What privileges do legislators possess? 

6. What restrictions are placed upon the members and houses? 

7. State eleven forms of special legislation that are forbidden. 

8. What powers and restrictions are peculiar to the House? 

9. What powers and restrictions are peculiar to the Senate? 

10. Through what order must and through what order may a 
bill pass before it can become a law? 

11. Name the six chief executive officers of Minnesota. 

12. What are the duties of the governor? 

13. What are the duties of the lieutenant-governor? 

14. What are the duties of the secretary of state? 

15. What are the duties of the auditor? 

16. What are the duties of the treasurer? 

17. What are the duties of the attorney-general? 

18. Describe the organization of the supreme court. 

19. How are the district courts constituted, and how many dis¬ 
tricts and judges are there at the present time? 

20. What is the jurisdiction of a probate court? 

21. State four important points respecting justices of the peace. 

22. What does the Constitution say in reference to judges of the 
supreme and district courts ? 

23. What are the duties of clerks of courts and court commis¬ 


sioners ? 



ADMIN/STRATIVE DEPARTMENTS. 


35 


CHAPTER V. 

ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENTS, BUREAUS, COM¬ 
MISSIONS, AND OFFICERS. 

In a great state the public business increases rapidly 
in proportion to the general development of the state 
itself. This has given rise in Minnesota to various 
departments, commissions, bureaus, and offices more or 
less closely related to the chief executive departments 
already considered. 

Adjutant General. — While the governor of the State 
is the nominal commander-in-chief of its militia, its 
actual direction and command is delegated to the adju¬ 
tant general. Consequently all general orders to the 
Minnesota National Guard are issued by him. By stat¬ 
ute, also, he is made prosecuting attorney or agent for 
all worthy soldiers and sailors, or the widows, orphans, 
and dependent parents of the same, who are seeking 
pensions from the United States. In this capacity, he 
serves without fee or reward of any kind. 

Insurance Department. — The head of this department 
is called the insurance commissioner. It is his duty to 
prevent dishonest insurance companies from doing busi¬ 
ness in the State; to see that honest companies do not 
ignorantly or carelessly neglect its laws in reference to 
the security and payment of losses; and to collect fees 
from these companies for defraying the expenses of the 


36 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


department, relieving injured firemen, and helping to 
maintain better fire departments in the cities of the 
State. 

Department of Public Instruction. —This department 
is under the direction of the superintendent of public 
instruction. His chief duties are — 

1. To confer from time to time with the county superintendents 
respecting the best methods of organization and discipline for the 
public schools. 

2. To conduct teachers’ institutes and training schools annually 
at suitable places throughout the State. 

3. To collect and arrange statistics showing the condition of the 
public schools and other educational institutions. 

4. To apportion the public school funds semiannually. 

5. To make to the Legislature at its regular sessions a compre¬ 
hensive report of the educational condition of the public schools and 
higher institutions of learning. 

The superintendent is also ex officio member and 
secretary of the State Normal and High School Boards 
and member of the Board of Regents of the University. 

Railroad and Warehouse Commission. — This commis¬ 
sion consists of three members appointed by the gov¬ 
ernor. They have power to fix and enforce a regular 
and equitable schedule of rates upon the railroads of 
the State. They also have power to supervise the grain 
trade at terminal points like St. Paul, Minneapolis, and 
Duluth. Acting in this capacity, they fix the “ grades ” 
or relative qualities of grain, and appoint inspectors and 
weighers to carry out their directions. 

Dairy and Food Commission. —This board is made up 
of a chief and two assistant commissioners, a chemist, 
and a secretary. Through its authorized agents it care- 


AD MI ms TRA TIVE DEPAR TMENTS. 


37 


fully inspects the dairies and food markets to detect and 
punish the vendors of spurious and adulterated dairy 
products and other foods. Everything, beginning with 
careful analyses of specimens by the chemist, is carried 
out systematically, resulting in great good to consumers. 

Land Commissioner.—The State of Minnesota owns 
thousands of acres of agricultural, mineral, and timber 
lands, classified otherwise as school, swamp, and inter¬ 
nal improvement lands. To protect, lease, and sell 
these requires a great deal of labor. This responsible 
duty is assigned by law to the state auditor, who is ex 
officio land commissioner. 

Printing Commission. — The secretary of state, auditor, 
and treasurer are the commissioners of printing. They 
let the contracts for printing blanks, reports, docu¬ 
ments, and forms of whatever character required. The 
person holding the contracts, for a specified time, is 
called the public printer, and the person employed by 
the commission to supervise the work, as to form, qual¬ 
ity, and charges, is called the expert printer. 

Commissioner of Statistics. — At one time this officer 
was the general statistician of the State, but now his 
duties are confined to the collecting of such agricultural 
statistics as are deemed of economic value. At present 
the assistant secretary of state is commissioner of sta¬ 
tistics. 

Fish Commission. — It is the duty and work of the 
fish commissioners to stock the lakes and rivers of the 
State with the best varieties of fish suited to its climatic 
conditions. To do this, they have established hatch¬ 
eries where the young fish are developed from the egg 
until old enough for distribution. 


38 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


Bureau of Labor. — This bureau is an outgrowth of 
certain labor movements immediately preceding the 
year 1887. It is required, first of all, to see that all 
laws relating to the welfare of the laboring classes in 
factories and other places are faithfully carried out. 
This it prepares itself to do by personal inspection of 
places of labor. Some of the laws to be enforced relate 
to the employment of children, matters of health, and 
protection against accidents. In the second place, the 
bureau is required to collect statistics pertaining to the 
various phases of the industrial and social conditions of 
the laboring classes. These statistics it presents bien¬ 
nially to the Legislature. 

Public Examiner. — The public examiner holds a 
very important position. He is a financial agent of 
the State with full power to inspect and supervise the 
books and business methods of all county and state finan¬ 
cial officers, of banks organized under state laws, of 
loan and trust companies, national building associations 
as to their business within the State, and local building 
associations in towns of ten thousand or more inhabi¬ 
tants. The work of this officer has already brought 
about needed business reforms and insured greater hon¬ 
esty in dealing among these institutions and officers. 

Boiler Inspector.—The great loss of life and prop¬ 
erty from the improper handling of boilers led to the 
appointment of a boiler inspector and assistants. No 
person can now run a steam engine, or be master or 
pilot of a steam vessel on the inland waters of the 
State, without a license from the inspector. And all 
boilers and steam vessels must be examined annually. 
However, these laws do not apjDly to locomotive engi- 


ADMINISTRA TIVE DEPARTMENTS. 


39 


neers, a class of men always skilled, nor to boilers prop¬ 
erly inspected by insurance companies. 

Inspector of Illuminating Oils.—The duty of this 
officer requires him to inspect all illuminating oils in 
the market of the State, and to prevent the sale of those 
dangerously explosive. He employs several assistants, 
who, like himself, are paid out of fees charged for inspec¬ 
tion. 

Surveyors of Logs and Lumber. — The lumber inter¬ 
ests of Minnesota are extensive. Millions of feet of 
logs are annually cut in the pine forests in its northern 
part, and floated down its rivers to the mills and mar¬ 
kets. Certain officers, called surveyors of logs and 
lumber, are employed to scale or measure these logs 
and to determine the proper owners when the logs are 
being sorted in the booms for the purpose of rafting 
them to owners or purchasers. The surveyors also 
record existing bills of sale, liens, and mortgages, against 
the logs of different owners. The total measurements 
made must be reported to the Legislature biennially. 

State Librarian. —While the state library was estab¬ 
lished to preserve books, pamphlets, charts, and docu¬ 
ments of a miscellaneous character, it is made up for 
the most part of books of law to which all citizens of 
the State may have free access. The library is under the 
direction of the judges of the supreme court, but in 
the immediate charge of an appointive officer called the 
state librarian. 

State Geologist. —The state geologist, strictly speak¬ 
ing, is not a state officer and does his work under the 
direction of the regents of the University. Yet his 
work is special in character, and is performed for the 


40 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

people of the State at large. Under him the geological 
and natural history surveys of the State have been car¬ 
ried on steadily for many years, and very valuable per¬ 
manent results have been obtained and published. 


CHAPTER VI. 

BOARDS OF CONTROL, SOCIETIES, AND ASSOCIA¬ 
TIONS. 

Still farther removed from the chief executive de¬ 
partments than those studied in the last chapter, yet 
performing very important functions, we find several 
boards, societies, and associations. 

Boards of Control. — These boards having very clearly 
defined directory power, are sometimes called boards of 
control. It will be seen that four of them pertain to 
the health of the people; one to their financial and one 
to their legal welfare ; and one to the economic inter¬ 
ests of the producing classes. They are named and 
described as follows : — 

1. The Board of Equalization is composed of the governor, 
auditor, attorney-general, and one elector from each judicial district. 
It meets every September and equalizes the valuations placed by 
assessors upon the real and personal property throughout the 
State. 

2. The Board of Medical Examiners is composed of ten physi¬ 
cians of known ability and good standing. All applicants for 
licenses to practise medicine must pass its examinations. In this 
way incompetent persons are barred from imposing upon the peo¬ 
ple. 


BOARDS OF CONTROL. 


41' 

3. The Board of Pharmacy consists of five pharmacists. All 
retailers and dispensers of drugs must hold its certificates. 

4. The Board of Dental Examiners has the granting of licenses 
to dentists. It has five members who are practising dentists. 

5. The Board of Health and Vital Statistics is composed of 
seven physicians. It is required ^‘to make sanitary investigations 
and inquiries respecting the causes of disease, especially of epidem¬ 
ics ; the sources of mortality, and the effects of localities, employ¬ 
ments, conditions, and circumstances on the public health.” 

6. The Board of Law Examiners has one member for each con¬ 
gressional district. It examines all candidates for admission to the 
bar in respect to their legal abilities. 

7. The Board of Farmers’ Institutes consists of six members. 
Its duties require it to hold institutes or conventions for the pur¬ 
pose of imparting knowledge concerning the best methods of agri¬ 
culture, horticulture, dairying, and stock-raising. 

Societies.—There are four societies organized under 
the laws of the State, three of them in a large degree 
supported by its bounty, which deserve notice. 

1. The Agricultural Society has extensive grounds and buildings 
in the city of St. Paul. By its suggestive annual exhibits and 
liberal premiums it is doing much to promote agricultural prog¬ 
ress. 

2. The Horticultural Society gives special attention to the ad¬ 
vancement of pomology, horticulture, and arboriculture. 

3. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is doing 
in a faithful way the noble work expressed in its name. It has 
many branches. Its officers have the power of constables, which 
they exercise freely whenever cases of extreme cruelty occur. 

4. The Historical Society was organized under the laws of the 
Territory. It is the oldest society in the State, and receives from it 
a liberal annual appropriation. Its most important function is to 
collect all valuable antiquarian relics and historical data, recent and 
aboriginal, pertaining to the State and Northwest. Beyond that, 
its historical collections and researches are general. 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


4 -^ 


Associations.—Two important associations are sus¬ 
tained by the State. 

1. The Dairyman’s Association disseminates knowledge respect¬ 
ing the best modes of dairying, and holds annual fairs at which it 
distributes premiums. 

2. The Forestry Association has for its purposes the preserva¬ 
tion of the native forests, and the planting and cultivation of new 
forests. 


STATE INSTITUTIONS. 


43 


CHAPTER VII. 

STATE INSTITUTIONS OF CORRECTION AND 
CHARITY. 

The care which a state bestows upon its unfortunate 
citizens and children is one of the best indications of 
its progress in civilization. Measured by this standard, 
Minnesota compares well with her sister states. 

Board of Corrections and Charities. — The general 
supervision of the institutions of correction and charity, 
state or local, is delegated by law to the State Board of 
Corrections and Charities. This board has six mem¬ 
bers, of whom, for obvious reasons, not more than three 
can belong to the same political party. Its chief duties 
are specified as follows : — 

1. To inspect the institutions under its charge. 

2. To investigate, under the governor’s direction, cases of mis¬ 
management. 

3. To prescribe the forms of their statistical reports. 

4. To criticise the plans of local jails and poor-houses with a 
view to improving them. 

5. To co-operate in every way possible with executive boards 
and officers in order to promote the economic and moral welfare of 
these institutions. 

6. To report biennially to the Legislature. 

Insane Asylums. — Minnesota has three insane asy¬ 
lums ; the First, so called, at St. Peter, the Second at 
Rochester, and the Third at Fergus Falls. The build- 


44 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA, 


ings belonging to them are extensive and fitted up in 
the most approved manner. These asylums are under 
the immediate direction of a board of nine members. 
Each asylum has a steward, a medical superintendent, 
and corps of assistant physicians and attendants. 

Institute for Defectives.—The Institute for Defec¬ 
tives has three branches; namely, the School for the 
Deaf, the School for the Blind, and the School for the 
Feeble-Minded. The institute is controlled by a board 
of seven members, two of whom, the governor and 
superintendent of public instruction, are members 
ex officio. Each of these schools has a superintendent 
and a faculty of competent instructors. The Institute 
is situated at Faribault. 

State Public School. — The State Public School for 
Neglected and Dependent Children is situated at Owa- 
tonna. It is an institution of recent establishment and 
is controlled by a board of three members. Its name 
indicates the classes of children admitted to it. It has 
already done great good. The boys are taught to work 
in the gardens and shops, and the girls are taught sew¬ 
ing, cooking, and other domestic duties. Besides, all 
are instructed in the branches of a common school edu¬ 
cation. As soon as possible after they enter school,, 
homes in families are found for the children ; but for 
some time after adoption the authorities of the school 
continue to watch over them to insure proper treat¬ 
ment. If the children do not receive this, they are 
brought back to the school. 

Soldiers^ Home.—The Minnesota Soldiers’ Home is 
situated at Minnehaha Falls, within the corporate limits 
of Minneapolis. It is under the direction of a board of 


STATE INSTITUTIONS. 


45 


seven trustees. It was established for the benefit of 
aged and infirm soldiers and sailors of the United States 
who also are citizens of Minnesota. 

The Reform School.—The Reform School, formerly 
called the House of Refuge, was for many years situ¬ 
ated at St. Paul, but is now at Red Wing, where a large 
farm and modern buildings and appliances have been 
provided for it. Its board of managers consists of five 
members. 

Boys and girls who are too incorrigible to be con¬ 
trolled at home are sent to it. Besides the rudiments 
of an education, they are taught useful trades. The 
requirements of the institution are rigid but kind. 
Through its discipline many vicious children have been 
redeemed. 

The Reformatory. — Hitherto, in the history of states 
and countries, persons guilty of crimes, whether of a 
mild or of a heinous character, have been thrown into 
prison and often subjected to harsh not to say cruel 
treatment. The people are now beginning to take 
another view of the matter, and to assert that a state 
must seek to reform as well as to restrain and punish 
its criminals. With this end in view, the State of 
Minnesota has established a reformatory at St. Cloud. 
Persons who have taken the first steps in crime, but 
who are too old to send to the Reform School, are impris¬ 
oned in the Reformatory. The system of the Reform¬ 
atory is paternal and elastic. The severity of a prisoner’s 
punishment is largely determined by his attitude toward 
discipline and reformation. The Reformatory is still in 
the experimental stage, but is doing a noble work. It 
is under the control of a board of six managers. 


46 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

The State Prison.—The State Prison still exists for 
hardened criminals who are dangerous, or unsusceptible 
to influences of reform. But hereafter in its adminis¬ 
tration it is certain to feel the influence of the milder 
methods of the Reformatory. This prison is situated at 
Stillwater. There are five managers in its board. The 
chief officer of the prison is called the warden. He is 
assisted by deputy wardens and guards. 


STATE INSTITUTIONS. 


47 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further thought, 
reading, and study. 

1. What are the duties of the adjutant general ? 

2. What are the duties of the insurance commissioner? 

3. Specify five duties of the superintendent of public instruction. 

4. What are the duties of the Railroad and Warehouse Com¬ 
mission ? 

5. What are the duties of the Dairy and Food Commission? 

6. Who acts as land commissioner, and what are his duties? 

7. State clearly what you know about the Printing Commission, 
the public printer, and the expert printer. 

8. What were the former duties and what are the present duties 
of the commissioner of statistics ? 

9. For what purpose was the Fish Commission constituted? 

10. Describe the Bureau of Labor and its work. 

11. State the duties of the public examiner. 

12. State the duties of the inspectors of boilers and illuminating 
oil. 

13. What duties belong to a surveyor of logs and lumber? 

14. Tell what you know about the state library and the state 
librarian. 

15. What is the nature of the state geologist’s work? 

16. Name and describe the work of seven boards of control, four 
societies, and two associations, all either fostered or controlled by 
the State. 

17. What are the duties of the Board of Corrections and Chari¬ 
ties? 

18. Name the insane asylums, and tell where they are situated. 

19. What is the Institute for Defectives? 

20. For what was the State Public School established? 

21. For whom was the Soldiers’ Home established? 

22. Compare the Reform School, Reformatory, and State Prison, 
and show in what respects they differ from one another. 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


EDUCATION. 

DISTRICTS. 

I. Common. 2. Independent. 3. Special. 

SCHOOLS. 

I. Ungraded. | 2. Graded. 

3. State High Schools. 

.4. Normal Schools. | 5. University. 


PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDS. 


Current 

Local 


General. 

State School Tax. 

One Mill County Tax. 
District Special Tax. 


48 


EDUCATION. 


49 


CHAPTER VUL 
EDUCATION 

The work of education in Minnesota, below the Uni¬ 
versity and normal schools, is conducted on the district 
system. Of these districts there are three kinds, called 
common, independent, and special. 

Common Districts. — Common districts are organized 
according to law by the county commissioners when 
properly petitioned by the people concerned. There is 
no uniformity in the extent of territory included in these 
districts. Local conditions and circumstances deter¬ 
mine this. The schools are for the most part ungraded. 
A common school district is controlled by a board of 
three trustees. These officers are named clerk, treas¬ 
urer, and director. However, the government of the 
district is partly democratic. The most important 
questions relating to it are determined by the people 
at an annual meeting, and special meetings called from 
time to time. Common districts are for the most part 
confined to the country, and are under the supervision 
of a county superintendent. 

Independent Districts. — Independent districts are also 
organized according to statute. These districts are 
peculiar to villages and cities, and their schools are 
usually graded. The government of such districts, like 
the common, is partially democratic. Each has a board 


50 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OE MINNESOTA. 


of six members. The officers of the board are a presi¬ 
dent, secretary, and treasurer. Each district, too, em¬ 
ploys its own superintendent, examines its own teachers, 
and is not subject to the county superintendent save in 
the matter of making annual reports. 

Special Districts. — Special districts have hitherto 
been organized, and, as might be inferred from the name, 
under special acts of the Legislature whenever peculiar 
municipal and other local conditions seemed to warrant 
it. In general character they are like independent dis¬ 
tricts, yet are in certain particulars as various in gov¬ 
ernment and privileges as the acts establishing them. 
Under the amendment to the Constitution preventing 
special legislation, such districts cannot now be organ¬ 
ized. 

State High Schools. — To encourage higher education, 
the Legislature has enacted a law establishing state high 
schools. These schools in reality belong to the graded 
systems in special and independent districts, but are 
also voluntarily subject to the rules and regulations of 
the State High School Board, which consists of three 
members; namely, the governor of the State, the presi¬ 
dent of the University, and the state superintendent of 
public instruction. If found upon inspection to be work¬ 
ing in accord with the regulations of the bo^rd, the 
schools are granted an annual appropriation from the 
state treasury. During the school year ending in 1892, 
there were sixty-two of these schools under state super¬ 
vision. 

Normal Schools. — Minnesota has so far four normal 
schools. Together they form what might be called an 
auxiliary system of the public schools, having for their 


EDUCATION. 


51 


purpose the education and professional training of 
teachers for these schools. They are situated at Wi¬ 
nona, Mankato, St. Cloud, and Moorhead. They receive 
an aggregate annual appropriation of seventy-seven 
thousand dollars, and occasional appropriations for per¬ 
manent improvements. The government of the schools 
is entrusted to a board of nine members, four of whom 
are resident directors. 

University.—The University of Minnesota, situated 
at Minneapolis, is the successor of the Territorial Uni¬ 
versity. At present it has five important colleges and 
departments described as follows: The College of 
Science, Literature, and Arts, offering three courses of 
study; the College of Mechanic Arts, offering four 
courses ; the College of Agriculture, to which is attached 
the preparatory School of Agriculture; the Department 
of Law ; and the Department of Medicine, including the 
College of Medicine and Surgery, the College of Homeo¬ 
pathic Medicine and Surgery, the College of Dentistry, 
and the School of Pharmacy. 

The University is governed by a board of twelve 
regents. It is supported partly by the interest of its 
permanent fund, and partly by special and standing 
legislative appropriations. Its annual standing appro¬ 
priation is now sixty-five thousand dollars, and the 
interest on its permanent fund about thirty-five thou¬ 
sand. The permanent fund amounts to nearly a million 
dollars. Of its land grants, including agricultural col¬ 
lege lands, about fifty-five thousand acres remain unsold., 

Public School Lands. — The pupil will recall that the 
Organic Act of the territory reserved sections sixteen 
and thirty-six in each township for the support of the 


52 


CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


public schools; that is, the schools described above 
under common, independent, and special districts. By 
legislative enactment, none of these lands can be sold 
for less than five dollars an acre. They often bring 
much more. The money accruing from sales consti¬ 
tutes a permanent fund, no part of which can ever be 
expended, only the interest being available for the sup¬ 
port of the schools. At this time the fund amounts to 
about ten million dollars, and there yet remain about 
seven hundred fifty thousand acres of land unsold. 
When all of the lands are sold, it is estimated that the 
fund will amount to nearly twenty million dollars. 

Current and Special School Funds. — The current 
school fund is made up of the annual state school tax 
fund and the general school fund, the latter being the 
annual interest on the permanent fund mentioned in the 
last paragraph. The state school tax is one mill levied 
on the total real estate and personal property valuation 
of the State. The current fund, so made up, is the one 
distributed semiannually by the superintendent of public 
instruction. It amounts now to about a million dollars 
a year. Besides this large fund there are two others. 
One is a local mill tax levied on the property within 
each county, the other is the variable special tax which 
each school district, in order to share in the current 
fund of the State, must vote annually for the running 
expenses of its school, in addition to what it may choose 
to vote for permanent improvements. 


EDUCATION. 


53 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been already learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

1. How is a common school district organized and governed? 

2. How is an independent district organized and governed? 

3. How were special districts organized? 

4. What are state high schools, and how are they supervised ? 

5. What is the work for which the normal schools were insti¬ 
tuted? 

6. Where are the normal schools situated, and how are they 
supported ? 

7. How are the normal schools governed? 

8. Name the departments and colleges of the University. 

9. How is the University governed? 

10. How is the University supported? 

11. What can you say of the public school land ? 

12. What funds constitute the current school fund? 

13. Describe two local school funds. 

14. How large is the permanent school fund at date? 

15. How large is the University fund at date? 


BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 

COUNTIES. 


1. Commissioners. 

2. Auditor. 

3. Register of Deeds. 

4. Surveyor. 

5. Superintendent of Schools. 

6. Judge of Probate. 


'.rs. 

7. Attorney. 

8. Sheriff. 

9. Coroner. 

10. Clerk of Court. 

11. Court Commissioner. 


1. Congressional. 

2. Organized. 


1. Supervisors. 

2. Clerk. 

3. Treasurer. 

4. Constables. 


TOWNSHIPS. 

I 3. Corporate Powers. 

! 4. Meetings. 

Officer's. 

5. Assessor. 

6. Overseers of Highways. 

7. Board of Review. 

8. Justices. 


VILLAGES. 

Officers. 


1. President's 

2. Trustees > Council, 

3. Recorder ) 


4. Marshal. 

5. Constables. 

6. Justices. 

7. Street Commissioner. 


54 







LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


55 


CHAPTER IX. 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 

So far the pupil has been studying the governments 
of the Territory and State in their many phases, but 
several important forms of local government yet remain 
for him to consider. They are the governments of 
counties, townships, villages, and cities. 

Counties.—The county is the largest geographical 
subdivision of the State. Minnesota has seventy-eight 
organized and two unorganized counties at the time this 
book goes to press. The areas of some of them are 
quite extensive. Minnesota would make about sixty- 
four states as large as Rhode Island, and its largest 
counties would each make from two to five such states. 
Thus it will be seen that the extent of its domain, not to 
speak of other things, makes the government of one of 
these counties a matter of considerable importance. 

County Officers.— The county officers in Minnesota 
are a board of county commissioners, auditor, treasurer, 
register of deeds, surveyor, superintendent of schools, 
judge of probate, county attorney, sheriff, coroner, clerk 
of court, and court commissioner. The duties of most 
of these officers are explained on pp. 29-32 of the other 
book in this volume, save that the pupil should read 
county attorney in place of district attorney. Those 
mentioned under courts in this book are the judge of 


56 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 


probate, the clerk of courts, and the court commissioner. 
The surveyor determines the boundary lines and meas¬ 
urements of lands concerning which disputes have 
arisen. 

Townships.— The Minnesota township, geographically 
speaking, is six miles square. How it is subdivided and 
related to other townships is clearly explained on pp. 
126, 127 of the book preceding this. 

Organizing Towns.— Before a township is organized it 
is called a congressional township. To be organized, 
it must have at least twenty-five legal voters residing in 
it. If a majority of these petition the county commis¬ 
sioners to organize the town, the commissioners must 
proceed to do so, providing, as directed by law, to deter¬ 
mine the boundaries of the township, to name it, and to 
designate the place for holding its first town meeting. 

Corporate Powers.— An organized town is a corpora¬ 
tion having power— 

‘‘i. To sue and be sued. 

“2. To purchase and hold lands within its own limits, and for 
the use of its inhabitants, subject to the powers of the Legislature. 

“3. To make such contracts, purchase and hold such personal 
property as may be necessary for the exercise of its corporate or 
administrative powers. 

“4. To make such orders for the disposition, regulation, or use of 
its corporate property as may be deemed conducive to the interests 
of its own inhabitants.” 

Town Meetings.— Each town holds an annual meet¬ 
ing. The time fixed for this is the second Tuesday of 
March. At this meeting, the electors choose three 
supervisors, one of whom is chairman, a town clerk, treas¬ 
urer, assessor, two justices of the peace, two constables, 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


57' 


and one overseer of highways for each road district. 
The justices and constables serve two years each, the 
other officers one year each. The electors have power 
also at this meeting — 

1. To provide for pounds and pound masters. 

2. To direct legal actions in cases to which the town is party,, 
and to provide means therefor. 

3. To regulate fence-building and the impounding of animals. 

4. To pass herd laws. 

5. To impose limited penalties for breaking the rules and regu¬ 
lations of the town, save in cases specified in law. 

6. To raise money for constructing roads and bridges, for 
supporting the poor, and paying the necessary expenses of the 
town. 

Special town meetings may be called to fill vacancies 
in office, or transact business, whenever the supervisors, 
justices, and clerk, or any two of them, with twelve or 
more freeholders, file a statement in the clerk’s office 
declaring the meeting necessary. 

Duties of Supervisors.—The supervisors are the 
chief executive officers of the town. All business not 
delegated to the other officers, or belonging to the 
people themselves, may be transacted by them. In 
particular, they may or shall, as the case may be, — 

1. Act as fence viewers. 

2. Act as a board of health. 

3. Act as a board of auditors in the matter of bills payable by 
the town. 

4. Draw orders for the disbursement of town moneys. 

5. Direct the legal actions of the town. 

6. Act as judges at elections. 

When acting as an auditing board, if one of the 
supervisors is absent, one of the justices must be called 


58 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

in to act for him ; or if two are absent, two justices 
must serve for them. 

Ordinarily, two supervisors constitute a quorum. 

Clerk’s Duties. — The town clerk must record the 
minutes of the town meetings, and orders, directions, 
rules, and regulations passed at such meetings. He 
acts as the custodian of all books of record belonging 
to the town, and must file and preserve its papers and 
audited accounts. He is required, too, to send the 
names of the newly elected constables and justices to 
the clerk of the district court, to post notices of town 
meetings, and to act as one of the clerks at elections. 

Treasurer’s Duties.—The treasurer receives, takes 
charge of, and disburses the money of the town. All 
disbursements must be made upon the order of the 
town or its supervisors. The treasurer must keep an 
accurate account of the amounts and sources of receipts, 
and the amounts and purposes of disbursements. He 
is required to file a detailed statement of his accounts, 
with the town clerk, within the five days preceding the 
annual meeting. 

Assessor. — It is the duty of the assessor to deter¬ 
mine as accurately as may be the valuation of each 
piece of real estate in the town, and the valuation of 
each resident’s personal property. This is for the pur¬ 
pose of taxation. 

Overseers of Highways. —The overseers of highways 
look after the construction of roads and bridges and see 
that they are kept in repair. 

Justices and Constables. — The duties of a justice • 
have been sufficiently explained in Section HI. of 
Chapter IV. A constable is a court officer who serves 
papers and makes arrests. 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT, 


59 


Board of Review.—The assessor, town clerk, and 
chairman of the supervisors constitute a board of review 
to see that no property within the township, through 
oversight or otherwise, escapes taxation; and to so 
equalize valuations that nobody’s property is unjustly 
taxed. 

Villages. — It often happens that commercial, manu¬ 
facturing, or other interests create thickly settled com¬ 
munities within a township. These communities soon 
find its government inadequate to provide for their 
peculiar needs, and take steps to sever themselves from 
it by securing village charters. Such a community in 
Minnesota must have at least one hundred seventy- 
five inhabitants before it can be organized as a village, 
and at least thirty of them must petition the county 
commissioners for the organization. In general, a vil¬ 
lage has the same corporate powers and obligations as a 
town. 

Officers of a Village. — The officers of a village cor¬ 
respond very nearly to those of a town. A president, 
a treasurer, a recorder, a marshal, a street commissioner, 
and three trustees are elected for one year ; and two 
justices of the peace and two constables for two years. 

The Village Council. — The president, recorder, and 
three trustees constitute the village council or executive 
board. It will be seen from what follows that their 
powers while in some cases parallel to those of town 
supervisors are more extensive. They may — 

1. Appoint pound masters,,village attorney, sextons, fire wardens, 
street commissioners, special and permanent police, a board of 
health, and three judges of election for each election district. 

2. Number houses, lay out streets, establish a fire department, 


6 o 


CIVIL GOVERNMEA^T OF MINNESOTA. 


establish markets, purchase and care for cemeteries, grant licenses 
of various kinds, restrain lotteries, establish and maintain public 
libraries, build watchhouses or lock-ups, provide street lights, regu¬ 
late the use of public wells and cisterns, establish and regulate har¬ 
bors and docks, build levees, and pass and enforce all necessary 
ordinances within their province. 

Cities. — Conditions similar to those leading to the 
incorporation of villages, but greater in number, lead to 
the more complex organizations of cities. The govern¬ 
ment of Minnesota cities is similar to that described 
elsewhere in this volume, and need not have a more 
particular explanation here. 

Nature of Local Government. — The thoughtful pupil 
has no doubt noticed that local government in the town¬ 
ship is somewhat democratic, and becomes in the vil¬ 
lage more representative in character. It may be stated 
in conclusion that it is still more centralized in cities. 
This centralization is a blessing when officers are honest 
and capable, but often works great harm when they are 
dishonest or inefficient. At the present time, how to- 
secure an honest and efficient municipal government is 
an unsolved problem. 


LOCAL GOVERNMEN'T, 


6 i 


QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUCzGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further thought, 
reading, and study. 

1. How many organized and how many unorganized counties 
in Minnesota? 

2. Give the official titles of county officers. 

3. State briefly the duties of each county officer. 

4. What is a congressional township ? 

5. How are townships organized? 

6. State the corporate powers of towns. 

7. When and how are township officers chosen? 

8. When must town meetings be held? When may they be 
held? 

9. Name the town officers and the terms for which they serve. 

10. Name six things the electors have power to do at a town 
meeting. 

11. How many supervisors are there, and what is one of them 
called ? 

12. Specify five duties of the supervisors. 

13. What are the town clerk’s duties? 

14. What are the town treasurer’s duties? 

15. What are the assessor’s duties? 

16. What are the duties of the overseers of highways? 

17. What are the duties of a constable? 

18. Why are villages organized? 

19. Name the officers of a village. 

20. How is a village council constituted? 

21. What are some of the powers of a village council different 
from those of township supervisors? 

22. What is the nature of local government? 


INDEX. 


Adjutant-general, 35. 

Agricultural Society, 41. 

Assessor, town, 58. 

Associations, 42. 

Attorney, territorial, 16, 
Attorney-general, state, 31. 

Bills, legislative, 28. 

Boards of Control, 40. 

Boiler inspector, 38. 

Boutvvell, Missionary, 10. 

Bureau of Labor, 38. 

Calhoun, Lake, mission of, 10. 
Carver, Jonathan, 8. 

Cass, Lewis, enters Minnesota, 9. 
Catlin, Governor, I2. 

Cities, 60. 

Clerk, town, 58. 

Cold Water Cantonment, 8. 
Commissioner of Statistics, 37. 
Common school districts, 49. 
Constables, town, 58. 

Constitution, the, 20. 

Constitution, amendments to, 22. 
Constitution, miscellaneous provi¬ 
sions of, 33. 

Constitution, ratification of, 21. 
Corrections and Charities, Board of, 
43 - 


Council, territorial, 14. 

Council, village, 59. 

Counties, 55. 

County, officers of, 55. 

Court, state supreme, 31. 

Court, territorial supreme, 15. 

Courts, probate, 32. 

Courts, state, 31. 

Courts, state district, 32. 

Courts, territorial, 15. 

Courts, territorial district, 16. 

Courts, territorial minor, j6. 

Dairy and Food Commission, 36, 
Dairyman’s Association, 42. 

Dakotas, first mentioned, 6. 

Delegate of territory, 17. 

Dental Examiners, 41. 

Districts, school, 49. 

Du Luth, 6. 

Education in the state, 49. 

Education in the territory, 17. 
Enabling Act, 19. 

English supremacy, 7. 

Equalization, Board of, 40. 
Executive, state, 29. 

Executive, territorial, 13. 
Expeditions, commercial and scien-^ 
tific, 9. 


62 





hVDEX. 


63 


Expeditions, military, 8. 

Explorers, early, 5. 

Farmers’ Institutes, Board of, 41. 
Fish Commission, 37. 

Forestry Association, 42. 

Fort Snelling, when built, 8. 

Forts first built, 6, 

French supremacy, 7. 

Funds, school, 52. 

Fur traders, 8. 

Galtier, Father Lucian, 10. 
Geologist, state, 39, 

Government, local, 60. 

Government, state, departments of, 

25 - 

Government, territorial, transition 
to, 18. 

Governor of the state, 29. 
Groselliers, visits Lake Superior, 6. 

Health, Board of, 41. 

Hennepin, Father, 6. 

High schools, 50. 

Highways, overseers of, 58. 
Historical Society, 41. 

Horticultural Society, 41. 

House, state Legislature, 25. 
House, things peculiar to, 28. 
House, territorial Legislature, 14. 

Independent school districts, 49. 
Insane asylums, 43. 

Inspector of illuminating oils, 39. 
Institute for Defectives, 44. 
Insurance Department, 35, 

Itasca, Lake, visited, 9. 

Judicial Department, state, 31. 
Justices of the peace, 33. 

Justices, town, 58. 


Lac qui Parle, Mission of, 10. 

Land Commissioner, 37. 

Lands, school, 51. 

Law Examiners, Board of, 41. 
Laws, 28. 

Leavenworth, Colonel, 8. 
Legislative Assembly, territorial, 

14 - 

Legislature, duties and obligations 
of, 26. 

Legislature, members of, 26. 
Legislature, powers of, 26. 
Legislature, privileges of, 27. 
Legislature, restrictions upon, 27. 
Legislature, state, 25. 

Le Sueur, 6. 

Librarian, state, 39. 
Lieutenant-governor, 30. 

Local government, 60. 

Long, Major Stephen H., 8-9. 
Louis XIV., 5. 

Marshal, territorial, 16. 

Medical Exaniiners, Board of, 40. 
Military expeditions, 8. 

Minnesota an unknown land, 5. 
Minnesota first entered, 6. 
Minnesota, territorial jurisdiction 
of, II. 

Missionaries, 10. 

National Guard of Minnesota, 35. 
Nicolet, Jean, 5. 

Normal schools, 50. 

Northwest, yielded to the United 
States, 8. 

Officers, territorial, appointment of, 
17 - 

Organic Act, 12. 




■64 


INDEX. 


Perrot, 6. 

Pharmacy, Board of, 41. 

Pike, General Z. M., 8. 

Pond, Missionaries, 10. 

Prevention Cruelty to Animals, So¬ 
ciety of, 41. 

Printing Commission, 37. 

Prison, state, 46. 

Probate courts, 32. 

Public examiner, 38. 

Public Instruction, Department of, 

36. 

Public School, state, 44. 

Radisson, visits Lake Superior, 6. 
Railroad and Warehouse Commis¬ 
sion, 36. 

Reformatory, 45. 

Reform School, 45. 

Review, Town Board of, 59. 

Riggs, Missionary, 10. 

Sault Ste. Marie, visited, 6. 
.Schedule of state .Constitution, 
21. 

Schoolcraft, enters Minnesota, 9. 
School districts, 49. 

"School funds, 52. 

Secretary of state, 30. 

Secretary, territorial, 13. 

Benate, state, 25. 


Senate, things peculiar to, 28. 
Settlements, first, 10. 

Sioux, first mentioned, 6. 
Societies, 41. 

Soldiers’ Home, 44. 
vSpecial school districts, 50. 

State, admission to Union, 22. 
State geologist, 39. 

State librarian, 39. 

State, organizing the, 19. 
Supervisors, town, 57. 

Supreme court, state, 31. 

Supreme court, territorial, 15. 
Surveyors of logs and lumber, 39. 

Town meetings, 56. 

Towns, corporate powers of, 56. 
Townships, 56. 

Towns, organizing, 56. 

Treasurer, state, 31. 

Treasurer, town, 58. 

University, state, 51. 

Village council, 59. 

Village officers, 59. 

Villages, government of, 59. 
'Voyageurs, 6. 

Williamson, Missionary, 10. 
Wisconsin, territory of, 12. 








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